Lost Idol
by bigdogneversleeps
Summary: Nine year old Naruto Uzumaki learns a lesson early in life about death, one that he never wished to learn, and would change his future from being the knuckleheaded blonde we all enjoy. Strong Naruto, NaruHina in later chapters. Unique takes on many characters, multiple OC's will be involved
1. Jiji

A story that popped into my head and won't leave, much like my other story Not Like Him, and I wan't posted so I won't forget about it. It is an AU world, and has some significant changes to the universe we know.

The outfit is a canon outfit Naruto wore, back in the Academy and was showed in Naruto Shippuden episodes 177-179. I like this outfit the most of all of his.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

…..

Teuchi Ichiraku was not a man that could be easily surprised.

It seems like an odd thought, but in reality made perfect sense. He lived in a shinobi village, so of course he would see some weird things. He also operated his stand late into the night, making it a popular midnight destination for shinobi returning from missions, or drunks. The stories he overheard, along with the states of how he found some of his customers, had helped him build a strong immune system to being shocked.

However, when he heard a familiar voice call out his name, and not the standard greeting he usually associated with that voice, he nearly raised an eyebrow. But what made him drop his jaw was when he turned to the location of the voice and saw himself.

He took a double take, making sure that it was not his mind playing tricks on him. He was seeing himself, standing there on the other side of the counter. He quickly looked around, making sure someone hadn't just put a mirror in front of him to mess with him. He double checked by making movements, seeing if the unexpected doppelganger would do the same. It did, but Teuchi was smart enough to see the long delay between his actions and its actions.

He glared at it, trying to figure out how the heck there was a copy of him. The copy stared back, and suddenly opened up his mouth. "Get back to cooking the ramen, me." His double ordered, but it wasn't his voice. It was the voice of a certain blonde he knew. Then Teuchi remembered the very important fact that he was in a ninja village, and all was explained.

"Alright, you got me, Naruto. Very funny." He called out the person underneath the Henge technique.

He saw himself grin widely. "Yeah, jiji, I just wanted to show you that I finally got down the Henge jutsu. What do you think?"

Teuchi got a good look of the copy of himself, and double checked himself for comparison. There were a few issues, true. The henge was both shorter and skinnier then he actually was, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. His hair was darker than it was in actuality, and the apron he wore lacked the broth stains adorned on his. A side by side test would make it fairly easy to see through it, but just walking around the boy could pass as him. A slight shiver went down his spine. He knew Naruto was a prankster, and now that he could use the Henge technique, it would let him do many more pranks.

"It's alright, though you messed up a few things. I also think for that technique you need to change your voice to mimic that person's." He honestly commented.

His doppelganger frowned, and suddenly went up in a puff of smoke. When the smoke clear, there was not a ramen chef standing there, but instead a 9 year old boy. The boy had bright blue eyes, spiky blonde hair, and full cheeks with a few whisker marks naturally laid there. He was wearing a sleeveless orange hoodie, with the hood down, and a blue shirt underneath, though you could only see the sleeves and down on his wrist he wore a pair of black wristbands. He wore green cargo pants that came down to his shins, and finished the ensemble with blue sandals. It was the signature outfit of Konoha's resident jinchuriki, Naruto Uzumaki.

"Yeah, well, I still don't know how to do that. We don't learn until next year. Iruka-sensei says we have to get down looking like the person first before we try to talk like 'em. What did I mess up, though?" He asked, taking a seat at the bar stool in front of him.

"Well, first off, you were too small." Naruto shot a small glare, not liking to be called out for his short stature. "You were two or three inches shorter than me, and skinnier than I was." Naruto replaced the glare with a grin, but decided to keep the comment to himself. He didn't want the ramen chef mad at him and maybe not serve him any ramen. "My hair was the wrong color, and my apron was too clean. But you managed to get everything else right, so I have to say good job."

"Good enough to get a free bowl?" Naruto inquired, causing Teuchi to raise an eyebrow.

"Oh, so that was why you wanted to show me the technique, to try and get some free food." Naruto's slight blush at being caught told him the truth. Teuchi gave a small smile. "Well, you did learn how to do an important jutsu, so I think you've earned one free bowl." He emphasized the word _one_.

Naruto fist pumped the air, yelling out, "Yatta!" He turned to the man and told him, "Make it miso pork, please." He smiled at the man nodded and turned back to the kitchen. It left Naruto to think about what he said about his technique. The big thing was that he was staying too small. He wondered how to best fix that, not remembering they had learned the answer in class. However, he came to the correct conclusion of more chakra being needed to expand the henge to the necessary size. He would have to make sure to do that when he showed the technique to Hokage-jiji after the free bowl of ramen.

A short wait later, Teuchi placed in front of Naruto a steaming bowl of miso pork ramen. Naruto grinned, and muttered thanks to the ramen chef. Grabbing a pair of chopsticks from the available cup, he broke them apart and called out "Itadakimasu!" He dove into the ramen, enjoying the self-professed food of the gods with great pleasure. After finishing the bowl, he said his thanks to Teuchi and left the ramen shack promptly. Normally he would eat more, but he was nearly broke. He didn't have the money to buy his usual his four to six bowls, so he limited himself to one bowl of the heaven known as Ichiraku ramen.

He debated whether or not he should practice more before showing the Hokage that he could do henge, after learning of the size mistake from Teuchi. However, he proved impatient on doing such a thing and made his way to the Hokage tower. He entered the building and made his way to the tenth floor. On that floor was the secretary for the Hokage's on the next floor up. A little winded from going up ten flights of stairs, Naruto took a quick breather before walking up to the secretary, hands in his pockets, acting casual.

"Hello, Suzuki-san. Is jiji free?" Suzuki was an older woman, in her early forties, who still had her brunette hair, slightly dyed to be rid of any gray hairs. She had brown eyes and a few laugh wrinkles around her eyes. She was still fairly fit, even though she retired from being a shinobi nearly twenty years before to start a family with her loving husband. Suzuki had always been fairly nice to Naruto, never showing the dislike and mistrust most of the other villagers had for him.

Suzuki took a look at the staircase leading to the Hokage and looked back at Naruto. "He has been asked to be left alone while he catches up on paperwork, but that was over an hour ago. He probably needs a break, Naruto, so sure, Hokage-sama is free."

Naruto nodded in thanks and bound up the steps to the elderly man's office. He knocked on the door three times, waiting for a response. When he didn't hear anything, he knocked even louder. Naruto was getting frustrated at the lack of a response, so he called out to the man. "Oi, jiji, it's me Naruto!" He began to tap his foot, waiting for a response. Getting none yet again, he decided to push open the door to see if the Hokage was actually in there. For all Naruto knew, he had went to the bathroom or something.

The door was unlocked, so he got in with no problems. He didn't see the Hokage at his desk, which meant to Naruto he wasn't in there. With that in mind, Naruto decided to play a prank on the old man, similar to the one he played on Teuchi. He was going to Henge into the old man, and sit at his desk when he got back. It was going to be funny. Walking around the desk, he jumped slightly when he saw a large mass on the floor. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Jiji. Naruto laughed, figuring he was trying to take a nap. He kneeled down to the old man and pushed him on the shoulder. "Oi, Hokage-jiji get up." When he didn't answer, Naruto pushed his shoulder even harder. "Come on, you can't be sleeping on the job. Get up." When that didn't work Naruto frowned, he pushed really hard on his shoulder. "This isn't a funny prank, old man. Get up." Trying to think of why the old man might not be doing something, he had the idea he might be sick. He decided to see if he felt warm, and was surprised to feel the body be cold. It was so unnatural.

"Jiji!" He yelled at the body beneath him, trying to make him wake up, or react or doing anything. Naruto didn't want to admit it, but he was getting scared. "Jiji? Jijij? Jiji!" He yelled loud, franticly pushing the old man, trying to force him up.

Suzuki heard the commotion and, worriedly, sprang up the stairs to her bosses office. The second she walked in, she rushed over to a frantic looking Naruto. Then she saw the Hokage, lying prone on the floor. Naruto spoke up. "He's not answering to me, and he feels cold."

Suzuki's eyes went wide, and two fingers flew to his neck, trying to check for a heartbeat. She waited a few seconds, and heard nothing. She grimaced. "He doesn't have a heartbeat." She murmured to herself, but Naruto heard her.

Even Naruto knew what that meant. "No, no, no! Jiji wake up, please wake up." His eyes were beginning to get wet, and he was scared. Scared that one of his precious people wouldn't wake up. That his jiji wasn't going to ever take him for ramen ever again. That his idol was gone.

Suzuki ran out of the room, flew down the stairs, and yelled out to every particular ANBU member in hearing distance. "Code Alpha Black! Code Alpha Black! Not a drill! Code Alpha Black!" With seconds, half a dozen members of ANBU flew past the women and into the Hokage's office. Two removed Naruto from the situation, when he was trying to cling tightly to their Hokage, and the other four rushed him to the hospital, wishing for the best but knowing the truth.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was dead.


	2. Interrogation

I'm going to keep up the steam with this story and give you chapter two. I know I am sort of ignoring my other stories to do this one, but when inspiration hits, you keep writing! Just hope you enjoy, favorite, put on alert, and review! (It really isn't that much work)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

…..

Naruto wasn't sure how long it had been since he found the Hokage, and he definitely had no clue where he was right then and there. The two ANBU who had pulled him off of the Hokage had brought him into some building and tunnels, and had put him in this bare room, with only two chairs and a desk and a big mirror on one of the walls. During his wait he noticed that the room had an odd smell that he couldn't place, and had a lot of stains of a darker color, but not brown or black. Almost red. Almost like the color of…

Before Naruto could finish that thought and give himself nightmares, the door opened into the room. He immediately jumped back into his chair. A tall blonde man walked in, and Naruto knew exactly who he was. He had seen him at the academy, picking up his daughter. That was Ino's dad, and she bragged about how he made bad ninjas talk. Suddenly, Naruto gulped. He didn't like how that sounded.

He simply walked in, a serious expression on his face, and put himself in the chair the opposite of Naruto. He put his elbows on table and looked at Naruto.

"Hello Naruto, my name is Inoichi Yamanaka, and I'm here to talk to you." He spoke calmly, but sternly, to Naruto.

Naruto tried to back up in his chair. "I swear I'm not a bad ninja! I didn't do anything wrong!"

Inoichi had a questioning look on his face because of Naruto's reaction. "What makes you say that?"

"'Cause Ino says that her dad makes bad ninjas talk." Naruto admitted.

Inoichi was surprised. "You know my daughter, Ino?"

Naruto nodded. "Hai, sir. She is in my class with Iruka-sensei. I've seen you pick her up from school before."

Inoichi had forgotten that his daughter was in the same class as him, but that didn't matter now. This would most likely help if Naruto had any fault with the Hokage's demise. If he was already scared of him, he would most likely fess up to everything he did. If he did anything at all, he was forced to remind himself. Inoichi would admit he had his suspicions about Naruto and his status with the Kyuubi no Yoko, but he knew that it was unfair to judge him on anything until after the interrogation. He was just lucky it was him, and not Ibiki or Anko. Both were fierce in their respect of the Hokage, and anyone even suspected in hurting him got the full process. Possible involvement with his death… Inoichi shuttered to think of their actions.

"Well, I simply want to talk to you about what happened. Firstly, why were you going to the Hokage's office."

"Well, I wanted to show ji- I mean the Hokage (Naruto figured he should be super respectful right now, so he could find out if the Hokage was… alive) that I can do the Henge no Jutsu."

Inoichi was surprised. His daughter was near the top of the class, and had yet to perform a good henge. "Really, then show me."

"Huh?" Naruto was confused on why he had to show Ino's dad the jutsu he could do.

"I want to make sure you are telling me the truth, which includes if you could do the henge jutsu."

"Why would I be lying?" Naruto was surprised that they thought he would lie to them, He had nothing to hide.

"Lots of reasons." Inoichi was purposefully vague, and it drove Naruto crazy.

"Like what?"

" I don't know, they are your reasons."

"But I'm not lying!" Naruto tried to make the man understood, but he wouldn't listen. Like everybody else.

"Then show me that you can do the Henge no Jutsu."

"Fine then!" With that, Naruto began to flash the signs for the technique. _Inu. I, Hitsuji. _"Henge no Jutsu!" With that came a puff of smoke. If it had been anyone beside a nine year old academy student, Inoichi might have been concerned, but he was confident that no matter what he transformed into, he would be able to handle it.

The smoke cleared, and Inoichi nearly did a double take. Sitting across from him was…him. The fake him spoke out, "See! I wanted to show him I could do it!"

Believing him, Inoichi did an evaluation of the technique. For a beginner, it wasn't that bad. There were a few minor errors, but nothing too drastic. A lighter shade of blonde for his hair. His arms seemed to be a little thicker than what they really were. An incorrect design on his jacket. Easily acceptable mistakes for a beginner and for a casual stroll, but would fail upon deeper observations, like most early Henge's. The voice needed work, but their class hadn't been taught how to do that yet. You needed to be able to look the part first.

Inoichi gave a nod. "Not too bad. A little work and it will be good enough for the field."

Naruto dispelled the henge and wore a frown on his face. "Darn it, I thought I fixed the size mistake."

Inoichi shook his head , understanding what he meant from when he learnt it."It was mostly details you messed up on. If you want to transform into someone, you have to make sure you notice all the details of the body and match them, or else you would be screwed in the field."

Naruto actually gave a weak grin in appreciation. "Thanks for the advice."

Inoichi nodded in accepting the thanks, and returned to the business at hand. "So, you went to the Hokage's office, you must have talked to the secretary, Aoi Suzuki. What did she say?"

"Well, she told me that the Hokage had been asked to be left alone to do some paperwork, but it had been over an hour and he would like the break, so she let me up."

Inoichi nodded, confirming what Suzuki had told them earlier. "What happened when you reached the office?"

"Well, I knocked on the door a couple times, but he didn't answer, so I went in."

"The door was unlocked?" Inoichi was surprised by this information.

"Well yeah! He always said he would leave the door open for those who wanted to see him."

_Or kill him._ Inoichi couldn't help but add mentally. None of the medical tests had come back from the coroner's report, so they had no idea what they were dealing with. It could have been an assassination, it could have been natural causes, and for all they knew it could have been suicide. They wouldn't know the truth until those damn reports came in.

"Go on." Was all that Inoichi actually said.

"Well, I walked in, and didn't see him in there, so I was going too…"

"To what?" Inoichi was suspicious of the drifting off.

"I was going to henge into him and mess with him when he came back into the room."

Inoichi repressed a smirk at the little prank he had planned, and nodded, telling him to go on.

"I went around the desk, and I found him there, on the floor. I thought he was trying to take a nap, so I tried to wake him up."

"How?" Inoichi asked, wanting everything to be thorough.

"I pushed on his shoulder, and tried to make him wake up. When that didn't work," Naruto's words became more drawn out as he remembered what had just occurred. "I went to see if he was maybe sick, but he was cold. I got scared, and tried yelling to wake him up. That was when Suzuki-san came in to see what I was yelling about. I told her and she checked his pulse, but didn't find any. I got really scared, and tried to wake him up but… those ANBU guys pulled me away and dragged me here." He finished, his speaking voice down to a crawl. He looked up, obviously worried, and asked what he had been wanting to ever since ANBU pulled him away. "Is the Hokage…alright?"

Protocol was the any suspect of a murder not be told about the status of the victim. However, Inoichi was certain Naruto was innocent of this, a kid trying to impress the Hokage and had the misfortune of finding his body. Inoichi shook his head. "No, he was declared dead at the hospital."

Naruto's eyes began to tear up. Jiji was dead. It couldn't be. He was the God of Shinobi, gods didn't die. It seemed like a bad nightmare, so much so Naruto pinched himself to awake from this hell. However, all he felt was pain and he was forced to accept the truth. He ducked his head underneath the table, but Inoichi could hear the sobs all the same. Feeling pity, Inoichi got up from his seat and moved towards the boy. He placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, knowing it was hard to lose someone close to you. Everyone knew about the relationship Naruto and the Hokage shared, and though many didn't trust it, it was accepted that they were close.

Naruto's slowed down his sobbing and looked up to Inoichi. He offered a warm smile, and was surprised when Naruto wrapped his arms around his waist. He was quick to pull him off, though.

"Why did you just hug me?" He asked bluntly to a Naruto still trying to wipe away his tears.

"I don't know, I just felt like it." Inoichi read Naruto's posture, and made a guess that he was just looking for comfort. He didn't let him hug him, but instead patted his shoulder.

"Everything will turn out for the best." Inoichi told him, trying to both be reassuring and realistic.

"But why did Jiji have to die?"

Inoichi just stood there. Eventually, he told him the truth. "I don't know."

A few more moments of quiet, before another question popped into Naruto's head. "Ano, how did he die?"

Inoichi looked down and sighed. "I don't know yet. They are giving him an autopsy right now."

"What's an autopsy?" Naruto asked, not knowing what the word meant.

"It is when doctors check someone's body to figure out how or why they died."

Naruto looked down, unsure of what to say to that. One thing did come into his mind. "How long will it take?"

Inoichi shrugged. "I'm not sure, Naruto, I'm not sure."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Inoichi stepped away from Naruto and called to the person who knocked. "Come in!"

In came an orderly, who was ferrying a report to Inoichi. He gave a salute. "Hello, Yamanaka-sama. The report came in."

Inoichi gave a quick nod, "Good hand it over." The orderly did so, and left the room, shutting the door behind him. Inoichi flipped open the file and began reading

Naruto couldn't help but be curious. "What is the report about?"

There was silence for a minute, so Naruto figured he must not have heard him. "I said, what is the report about?"

The second outburst caught Inoichi's attention. "Hmm?" He looked up from the report.

Naruto huffed, and asked for the third time, "What the heck is the report about?'

Inoichi sighed, closing the folder and resting it on the table. "It was the results of the Hokage's autopsy."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "And?" He asked, wondering what could have killed a Hokage.

"His death is being attributed to a pulmonary embolism." Inoichi told him, somewhat surprised by the mundaneness of the Hokage's death.

"A what? What is a pulminairee embolizism?" Naruto butchered the pronunciation badly of the medical term.

Inoichi wasn't surprised he didn't know. It wasn't exactly a common term for a nine year old to know. "A pulmonary embolism is when a blood clot enters one of the main arteries of your lungs."

Naruto still had a confused look on his face, so Inoichi broke it down even further. "Sometimes, your blood can clot. If your blood clots, it can enter your bloodstream, and it could clog something important. In this case, the blood clot clogged his lung and made him stop breathing."

Naruto could understand that definition, and he simply nodded. It was still tough to believe everything that had happened, and even more so that it was Jiji's body that killed him.

While Naruto was thinking about death, Inoichi was re-reading the report and he found the councilor's recommendation for the situation. He simply nodded, accepting the order from those currently in charge, and turned down to Naruto.

"Naruto, we are going to let you go home, but you have to promise me something."

Naruto looked up. "What?"

"Don't tell anyone that the Hokage is dead, alright?"

Naruto was shocked by the request. "But shouldn't people know? The Hokage runs the village!"

Inoichi nodded. "Yes, but until further notice, we don't want everyone to know he is dead."

"Why?" Naruto didn't understand why they would possibly want to keep it a secret.

Inoichi wasn't a hundred percent sure either, but he could make a guess. "Well, they probably want to make sure that the pulmonary embolism was something natural or unnatural."

"Unnatural?" Naruto asked.

"If somebody made it happen." Inoichi clarified.

Naruto was stunned. "Why would somebody want the Hokage to die?"

Inoichi shrugged. "A rival, wanting to ascend to the spot himself, an enemy ninja on orders from their Kage, someone with a grudge." He listed offhand.

Naruto was surprised by the first answer. "Someone could have killed Jiji to become Hokage?"

Inoichi nodded. "It happens for the position of Daimyo and in smaller villages all the time." He confessed to the Hokage-aspirant. All Naruto knew was that he would never kill someone to become Hokage, he wanted to do it the right way.

"So Naruto, do you understand? Do you promise not to tell anyone about the Hokage's death?" Inoichi asked again.

Naruto nodded, accepting the situation. "I promise."

Inoichi smiled. "Good." He moved to and opened the door, where two ANBU members were. "These two are going to take you home, alright?"

Naruto nodded again, and left with the two ANBU. Inoichi sighed, collecting the file and leaving the room. He needed a drink.

Naruto was escorted to his house, and he realized it was late at night. He had eaten at around five o'clock, and went to the Hokage's right afterwards. Then he had to wait in that room for what felt like forever, until Ino's dad showed up. Naruto hadn't realized a lot of time had taken place, and it was almost midnight. Naruto entered his apartment, leaving the ANBU behind to take surveillance so that no one tried anything in the Hokage's absence towards their resident jinchuriki.

Naruto went straight to bed, ignoring the calls of food and a shower. He threw off his clothes, and dived under the covers, and fitfully fell to a sleep full of nightmares about finding dead people. He woke up multiple times during the night, and again when his alarm clock rang for him to go to the Academy. He pressed the sleep button. He wasn't up to it today.


	3. Distraction

I'm keeping up with the pace of this story, and giving you another chapter. I don't think I will make it four in a row, so prepare for a wait for this story.

I love the responses I have gotten in my reviews, a lot of people are feeling for what I have done. However, I wish more people would put it on their favorite or alert list. If you are reading and haven't done that, could you show me some love?

Speaking of love… Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

…..

Naruto couldn't stay in bed all day, no matter how depressed he felt, so he got up around 10 a.m. He knew he couldn't really leave his apartment until the school day was over, or else he would be drug there by a truant officer, so he needed a way to pass the time.

He went to the pile of scrolls he had on his desk, mostly homework assignments or something he had to write in class, looking for one to occupy his time. After digging through the pile, he found one on the defensive katas of the Academy taijutsu. He never really looked over it, he thought his brawler style was better and brawlers were attackers, but he decided he might as well do this instead of mope around in his house all day.

For the next four hours, he lost himself in practicing the katas, going through everyone what must have been a hundred times, until he was simply doing them on instinct, without thinking, like how he wanted to be. He only stopped for a cup ramen break, barely lasting five minutes. The katas were far from perfectly done, Iruka-sensei would have to show him how to do them properly, but the repetition was what Naruto needed at the moment.

However, he grew tired of the repetition and tried to find another way to busy himself until the Academy let out its students and it was safe for him to be out in public. He wished he could get out of house, but the second someone saw him they would ask why he wasn't in school. If only he couldn't be seen…

Naruto's eyes went wide in remembering the technique he had learned. He could use the Henge no Jutsu to go out and do something! He was mad at himself for not remembering earlier. Shaking his anger away, he went to a mirror and tried to visualize himself as someone else. He thought about turning into Ino's dad or Teuchi, but they both were probably at work, so he would get caught. He would have to make someone entirely new.

He thought of how old he wanted the person to be, and he thought of someone older but not too old. Like Iruka-sensei. He was probably 20, so that was the age he was shooting for. His hair color was next, and Naruto decided that blonde would be too obvious. Black was probably less noticeable. His eyes would be brown then, since blue eyes would be too easy to notice. He would be someone thinner, since it was easier for Naruto to make someone thin. He thought about possible clothing for this person, and thought of something he would see one of Ichikaru's other customers wearing, and he would mix and match with that. That in mind, he flashed through the signs to do the jutsu.

"Henge no Jutsu." He spoke aloud, but not too loud. He poofed into smoke, and came out a different looking person. He was surprised to realize, upon first glance, that he looked like a paler version of Iruka-sensei with straight hair and a ponytail. He was wondering why he choose a ponytail, but then he remembered that Ino's dad had one. He must have copied the idea off of him. But outside of the hairstyle, he looked a lot like Iruka. His face, for the most part, matched Iruka's. However, he had rounder cheeks and a wider face in general He also didn't have the scar running across his nose. He was only slightly tan, unless Iruka who was almost a full tan as well. He looked to his outfit, and saw the white undershirt and blue jacket as he imagined. His pants were the long blacks once he thought of, and his black sandals were too. All in all he looked like a different person.

With that in mind, he slyly walked out of this apartment and into the street. He didn't make it far before an ANBU member jumped in front of him. Without saying a word, he forced him into an alley.

"What were you doing in the residence of Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto shushed the ANBU trying to interrogate me. "It's me, Naruto. I wanted to leave the house, but couldn't since school is in session. I put on this henge as a disguise."

The ANBU stopped, unknowingly by Naruto reading his chakra signature, and nodded. "Alright. Remember your orders."

Naruto frowned, not wanting to get that situation stuck in his head, but nodded. "Hai."

With that, the ANBU member went back to its hidden post. Naruto stepped out of the alley, brushed himself off. Double-checking he wasn't getting any attention, he walked into town.

Naruto quickly made the discovery that he could go freely in the town, as no one was running him off or making him feel uncomfortable. There was an occasional odd look by some of the shinobi, their headbands made it obvious, but no one called him out on anything. So, he inspected the marketplace, from the weapon store to the novelty store. He found out prices of things, and began to budget his available money for things Giso, the name he gave to the disguise he wore, to buy. Unimaginative, but it worked.

When Naruto saw the clock again, he was surprised to see all the time the window shopping he had been doing had taken up. It was already 3:30, school was being dismissed as he was looking up at the clock. Deciding that his façade of Giso was up for the day, he made his way back to his apartment. He dropped the henge, and collected his pouch with his kunai and shuriken. He needed to practice his throwing, and he knew the perfect place for it.

He went to a small clearing near of the giant training grounds in Konoha, one that he was afraid to go near. It had a few posts up, but was largely unused, due to it's closeness to the scary training ground. He used it though. He had found it nearly a month ago, and it was the best place for him to practice in peace. He lined himself up, twenty meters away from the posts, and drew 10 shuriken. He knew he wasn't very good at throwing, but he would become better. He looked at the five posts and threw two shurikens at each, not going in order but almost at random. Naruto wasn't very pleased with the results. Only a few stuck in, while a couple others had bounced off. Frustrated, he took the next ten and threw them much harder, and with more aggression. The same number stuck in, but their were buried into the posts much deeper than the first ones. In all, 12 shurikens missed. Mad at the low number, Naruto turned to his kunai, and threw one at each stump. He did better, with three of the five hitting, but it was still pretty bad. A lot of the kids in the academy did a lot better, and Naruto had to improve. With that in mind, Naruto spent the next half hour retrieving and throwing shuriken, with varying degrees of success.

Naruto failed to notice the presence hiding behind him, far away from the crossfire of the stumps. She was a nine year old, much like himself, and had short violet-blue hair. With clear wide eyes and an unmarked forehead, it would be obvious to any passerby that it was the Hyuga heiress, Hinata Hyuga.

She hid behind the trees, admiring the boy she had a small crush on. He seemed very nice, and had even helped her when some bullies attacked her for knocking out of their hands an ice cream cone. He got beat up, but before she could help, Ko-san pulled her away. Since that day she had begun to watch the blonde boy in her class from afar, and had recently taken up following him. She didn't want to be thought of as weird, she did want to go up to him and become his friend. But she was scared that he would treat her badly once she found out she was weak like her father called her, and would beat her up like the bullies had wanted to. He didn't seem like the type to do that, but she was still worried he wouldn't accept her. She was enamored by his blue eyes and his determination, his strive to become the best. He had declared he would become Hokage someday, and she believed him.

She had been worried about him not coming to school that day and had snuck down to his favorite training spot, hoping for a glance, which she was fortunate for. She watched his throws, something she was fairly accurate (though not strong at.) She wanted to go and ask if she could help, but she thought he may not like someone doing that, so she just watched.

After a bit, Naruto changed his tactics. He decided to try throwing multiple shurikens at once, and see if it did any better of a job. So, with three shuriken in hand, he threw them at a training post. And he did it again. And again. He kept doing it again, collecting them and throwing them in threes, for about twently five minutes. He had little actual success in hitting the post, though they did all go near the posts, which Naruto tried to take comfort in. It wasn't working. His failures kept coming to mind, not letting him reach that repetitious thoughtless nirvana he so craved. His mind was dragged to thoughts of his jiji, the Hokage, the one he knew was never coming back. He was going to retrieve his shuriken, but instead began to punch the posts furiously, screaming out "Why's" with every blow. It was hard for both Hinata and the ANBU tailing Naruto to watch.

Naruto fell to the ground, crying, his bleeding knuckles covering his eyes. It hurt Hinata to the boy she thought was so strong be so weak. It hurt her to see herself in him. She couldn't stop herself, she knew he needed someone. It was something she had picked up on fast, that few people acted kindly to him, most ignoring him and a few weren't above taking a swing at him. She had realized he was alone, and she finally had the courage, or the compassion driving her, to fix that.

She managed to make it to right behind him, and with a loud gulp, drowned out by his tears, she gently put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, and looked up at the girl who had suddenly appeared. He recognized her instantly, she was in his class, and he had even saved her from some bullies. What did she want?

She looked down at him, trembling, something he though was due to fear of him, and stuttered out. "A-are you al-lright, N-Naruto?"

His eyes, still crying slowly, were surprised by the gentleness in her voice and her actually knowing his name. He wiped away the tears, mixing them with his blood on his knuckles, and told her. "Yeah."

She frowned, knowing he was lying. Someone strong like him didn't cry when he was alright. "Then w-why were you c-crying?"

Naruto sniffed, and shook his head. He didn't want somebody to think he was weak. "I wasn't crying."

Hinata kneeled down to him, to look him in the eyes. "I heard you. You don't have to lie."

"I'm not lying!" Naruto shouted, causing Hinata to fall on her backside in surprise. "I wasn't crying."

Hinata whimpered, curling herself into her knees. "I w-was just s-seeing if you w-were okay." She told him from behind her knees. Her eyes began to water, feeling sad about getting yelled at.

Naruto managed to see this and got worried while feeling guilty. She was trying to be nice, and he yelled at her! Not only that, but people might get mad at him for making this girl crying. He got up, and did the only comforting thing he knew. He walked over to her, and wrapped her in a loose hug, saying in her ear, "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

She blushed very deeply at the sudden contact by her crush, and had to will herself to keep consciousness. She tentatively wrapped her hands around his back. "It's o-okay."

Naruto released the hug and gave her a grin. "Thank you."

With a small smile of her own, Hinata nodded and managed to say stutter-free, "You're welcome."

They sat there, across from one another, unsure of what to do. Naruto really hadn't had many conversations of people his age, besides Shikamaru and Chouji, to guys who were nice to him in class, let alone a girl. He wasn't sure what to talk about. Hinata knew what she wanted to talk about, but was worried it might offend him. With a gulp, she decided to go for it. "S-so, Naruto, w-why were you crying?"

Naruto frowned, wanting to argue that he hadn't been crying, but decided against it. This girl was being nice to him; he should be nice to her. On that note…

"What's your name?" He asked.

Hinata was surprised by the question. "W-what?"

Naruto explained. "I have seen you in class and stuff, but I don't remember your name."

"Oh." Hinata mouthed, slightly disappointed he didn't know her name, but happy that he was asking. "It's Hinata. Hinata Hyuga."

Naruto took the info in and smiled. "Hinata? I like that name." Hinata blushed under the complement.

"Th-thank you." She stuttered out.

Naruto remembered what she asked, and wasn't sure what to say. He wasn't allowed to tell people about it, so how was he going to tell Hinata?

…..

Giso- Japanese for disguise

Yes, I'm a scumbag for leaving it here with a Cliffhanger no Jutsu, along with a probable wait, but I have other stories to write, one's I hope you visit. So, hope you enjoyed, and remember to drop a comment below!


	4. Kekkei Genkai

So, after a month, here is my newest update for this story. I have to apologize for the long delay, but my sophomore year of college has just begun, and I have been planning out all of my stories. This may seem like nothing, but usually I go into writing these stories with a bare bone idea and just wing it as it progresses, which I think hinders it overall. But not this one, or others! So, I hope you find this update an acceptable reward for the wait and I can't wait to see my email box fill up with favorites, alerts, and reviews. Especially reviews. Good things happen if you review. It can push an author to restart a story, or let you get spoilers. So how about you review for me?

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

…..

Hinata Hyuga was blushing a storm. Naruto, her crush, had said he liked her name. She wanted to 'eep' in joy of hearing that, but she restrained herself. It wasn't the time to act like one of Sasuke's fangirls, she was supposed to be helping Naruto! On that note, she remembered where the conversation had been.

"N-naruto, why w-were you crying? I p-promise I won't l-laugh." She guessed that Naruto was afraid she would laugh at him for crying and make fun of him. She didn't know why most people acted like that towards him, but she wouldn't be like that.

That really wasn't Naruto was worried about, but it did comfort him. His resolve strengthened in trusting her, so he told her something. "Someone important to me died."

Hinata eyes went wide, she knew that pain. "I'm so s-sorry to hear that." She empathized with him.

Naruto gave her a smile that warmed Hinata's heart. It was a different smile then the ones she usually saw, and it was the one she liked best. There was the mischevious smile he had when he pulled a prank, the cheesy wide grin whenever he got acknowledged by Iruka-sensei in class, the smirk he wore whenever he did something really well in class, and the fake grin he wore in the street so people would think he was happy. But this one was a small smile, but came very naturally to him. Some of his teeth showed, but the grin didn't cover the lower half of his face. His eyes gained a warmth to them, and he looked at ease. She was going to class this as his true smile. He gave her a small nod, just proving his appreciation even more.

She stared down for a little bit, not fully sure what to say. She let a few questions bounce around her head, and finally picked one to ask. "How did it happen?"

Naruto took a second on if it was safe to answer that honestly, and decided it was. "They said it was a pulmonary embolism."

Hinata had heard of the phrase before, she had read it in one of the medical scrolls she read in her spare time. She liked healing, even if her father wanted her to be a fighter. But she wasn't sure what it meant, so she asked him.

Naruto tried to recall how Ino's dad had explained it to him. "Apparently, his blood clotted and the clot went into his lung."

Hinata knew exactly what damage a blood clot could do, though, she simply nodded in sympathy. She began to think of something that an aunt had told her, something that had helped her through her tragedy. Deciding it was advice worth giving, she told it to the blonde." W-well, at least K-k-kami will bring them p-paradise."

Naruto was surprised by the statement, as he had never heard it before, but he liked it. He nodded to Hinata. "Yeah, I like that. The old man's with Kami now." He smiled to himself, thinking about the Hokage with Kami.

Hinata was intrigued by this whole development. Now that she had comforted Naruto, oh wow she had just comforted Naruto she must not faint she must not faint, now was the important question. Who was the old man he had lost. She only ever saw a few people that Naruto could call important to him. There was the Hokage, whom she had been worried would find her and make her reveal she had been following Naruto. But he was the Hokage, he couldn't die from something like a blood clot! There was Iruka-sensei, but she had just seen him in class. Then there was the ramen stand chef and his daughter, but the stand was running, so she doubt it was them. Maybe it was a caretaker from the orphanage Naruto had gone to? That was her best guess, it was probably one of them who had passed.

Suddenly, the solemn mood vanished when Naruto bound up, turned to Hinata, and loudly proclaimed, "Let's spar!"

Hinata's eyes went wide, and she nearly landed flat on the ground in surprise of the loud blonde. "Huh?" She asked him, unsure of what had just happened. Hadn't he just been depressed?

"I said, let's spar. It will be fun!" Hinata heard what the energetic blond was saying and instantly grew if he thought she was weak, like everyone else? What if he rejected her! But then she shook her head. Naruto was too nice to reject her. She had nearly cried already, and instead of making fun of her, he gave her a hug! Steeling her reserves of determination, she stood up and nodded. "H-hai. That s-sound good."

With that, the two settled into their opening stances, Hinata stepped into the Hyuga stance that had been drilled into her head for the last 6 years of her life, while Naruto stood in a loose interpretation of the Academy taught style. The two made the Seal of Confrontation, as custom for spars, and Naruto announced the match started. Naruto was quick to rush in, surprising Hinata somewhat, and she threw out a strike defensively. Naruto was close to her already, so instead of dodging, he threw one of the blocks that he had trained into his mind with his forearm. However, Naruto stopped when his arm seemed to go numb and he couldn't feel his chakra in his arm anymore, a presence he never realized before this. Hinata saw his pause, and watched him jump back. She watched him shake his left arm, the arm he blocked with, quite violently. She knew she hit it, but it shouldn't make him act like that. With Naruto distracted, she flashed through the signs of activating her families legendary doujutsu. Calling out Byakugan, veins surrounded her eyes and her vision completely changed.

Naruto turned to Hinata, having heard her call out something, and was immediately drawn to her eyes. He had seen them before, and seen other Hyuga use their eyes, but Hinata's was different. Hinata's was awesome, and he wasn't afraid to show it. "Wow, your eyes are awesome, Hinata!"

Hinata had been trying to focus on Naruto's arm, but she heard the complement Naruto called out and she instantly blushed. She was shocked he liked her eyes. She was sure he would think they would be freaky, but this was Naruto. Cheeks blazing red, she managed to stutter out, "Th-th-thank you." She pulled her arms in and covered her cheeks with her balled up fists.

Naruto ignored the odd movement (he had already learned that girls did some stuff differently, like the time he found the cotton cylinder with a string and it came in packaging saying it was for females. Why would a female need anything like that?) and instead asked the pertinent question in his mind. "What can your eyes do?"

Hinata unballed her fists from her face and forced her hands to her side. "They l-let me see people's chakra and s-see in 360 degrees."

"360 degrees?" Naruto asked, knowing that was math and he didn't like it.

"All around me." Hinata was quick to explain

Naruto's eyes went wide. "Awesome! That would be cool for pranks! Iruka-sensei could never sneak up on me!" Hinata gave a light giggle at the very illegal use of her families doujutsu. Naruto's mind kept spinning, and he went to the next question. "So why do you need your eyes?"

Blushing, Hinata grabbed Naruto's still numb arm. With a chakra charged jab with her right pointer, chakra began to circulate in his arm. He was surprised by this, and quickly refocused on Hinata. "How?"

Hinata humbly explained." W-when you blocked with your arm, I accid-dentally closed one of your tenkutsu."

"Tenkutsu?" Naruto asked, unfamiliar with the term.

Hinata was quick to answer. "Th-they are points in the b-body that control chakra flow."

Naruto thought about what she said for a minute. "So you closed off my chakra?" Hinata nodded at him. He took another moment to take in the info, and his eyes went wide. "That is so awesome! Can you teach me how to do that?" Naruto asked, thinking that this awesome technique could make him an awesome ninja.

Hinata frowned. "I c-can't teach you th-hat. You h-have to have Byakugan." She pointed to her eyes, and hoped Naruto wouldn't get mad at her.

She had nothing to worry about since he merely frowned. "Well that stinks. Come on, you didn't beat me that easy. Now that I know you can stop my chakra, you won't be able to do it again."

Naruto's attitude affected Hinata, and let them have a good spar for almost 20 minutes. Hinata weaved in with classic Hyuga style and closed off seven of Naruto's tenkutsu, while Naruto had landed a few good punches on Hinata and even a nasty kick to the face. When Naruto said spar, he meant it, boy or girl. Surprisingly, Naruto had adapted a way to deflect a punch that he had practiced to deflecting Hinata's jabs at times. The spar impressed the ANBU watching over Naruto and Hinata by default. They both moved well for 9 year olds and had decent stamina for their age. Though with all the time a Hyuga was made to practice, and having the largest source of chakra fueling you known to man, it didn't really come to a big surprise.

While Naruto wiped off the dirt on his clothes, Hinata was putting her personal healing cream on her cuts and bruises, knowing it would cut the heal time down a bit. She was proud of it, it was a recipe she had made herself. The elders and her father didn't like her studying into the art of medicine, but she preferred healing over hurting. Naruto noticed Hinata putting the cream over her few injuries. She was screwing the cap back on when a hand was put over her's. Hinata jumped, not expecting that act, and looked up surprised to see that the hand belonged to Naruto. She began to blush very hard, as it was almost like they were holding hands. However, before she could faint, she felt the jar being pulled from her hand.

She jolted to this, and watched Naruto study the jar. He looked back at her and held the jar out in front of her. "What's this?" He asked her, unsure of what it was.

She gulped slightly, and grabbed it from his hand. As she shoved it in the pocket of her packet, she stuttered out. "It is a healing oi-ointment I m-made."

Naruto's eyes bugged slightly. "You made it? Does it work?"

Hinata nodded. "H-hai. I m-made it and it wworks really well. My c-cuts heal overnight."

Naruto gave her an odd look. "So? My cuts heal in an hour or two at most."

Hinata was really surprised. "What!" Her loud reaction surprised Naruto, since she had been quite up until then. Naruto was also confused by her reaction, which Hinata saw, and she was quick to explain. "Cuts usually take a f-few days to heal, not a f-few hours."

Naruto took a few seconds to process that, but was still very confused. "So what, I heal superfast or something?"

Hinata nodded. "You m-must be." She was really intrigued by this new facet of her crush. She remembered the bleeding knuckles from earlier, part of the reason why she was so worried about him, and observed his hands. There was still dried blood on his hands, but she couldn't tell where the cuts where. She had an odd feeling that even if he washed his hands, his knuckles would be scar-free.

"How long does it take for a broken arm to heal?" Naruto suddenly asked. Hinata had a feeling where this was going.

"E-even with healing, it takes f-four days to a w-week to heal properly." She knew this through her studies, and was interested in Naruto's answer.

He just had a distant look on his face. "I broke my arm once in the middle of the day. I was okay to go home by dinnertime, and felt completely fine by the time I went to sleep." He then looked at the ground, then towards Hinata. "Am I a freak or something?"

Hinata was immediately shaking her head and arguing against Naruto. "N-no Naruto! You aren't a f-freak!" She was trying to quickly find a reason for Naruto's super healing, when the only reasonable explanation came to her. "You m-must have a kekkei genkai!" She exclaimed, much to Naruto's surprise.

This was a term Naruto knew, as he had always been interested in them. He had hoped that he might have an awesome kekkei genkai, like the one Sasuke had, whatever it actually did (Naruto wasn't very clear on the capabilities of the Sharingan), and he could prove he was better than him. And apparently, he did. Super healing.

Naruto gave a huge grin. "Awesome, I have a kekkei genkai!" He began to dance around a little, celebrating the discovery of his talents. Hinata watched and giggled at his antics. She tried to cover her laughter, but Naruto heard it. He turned to Hinata. "What's so funny?" He asked, stopping in the middle of his dancing.

She blushed at the attention, and tried to withdraw herself. "Nothing." She lied to him, but Naruto didn't buy it.

"No, seriously, what's so funny?" He walked up to her, and she wilted under his stare from a few feet. "Y-you." She stuttered out, trying to hide her red cheeks.

Naruto frowned at that. "Me?" He rhetorically asked. "I'm being funny?" Hinata hesistantly nodded her head. Naruto just shrugged. "Don't care, I have a kekkei genkai!" He gave Hinata a huge grin. "It's all because of you. I would have never realized it until you told me. Thanks, Hinata-chan!" He bestowed the honorific to her, as he considered her an awesome friend. Then, closing the short distance between them, he gripped her in a big hug. "Let's go eat some ramen to celebrate."

Hinata's skin had turned a red better associated to those who opened the eight inner gates, but she managed to stay awake. "T-together?" She muffled into his shirt, as she was being pulled into it.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah! I'll even pay for both of us!" He was still hugging her, so she didn't hit the ground as she fainted, thinking about the implications of Naruto paying for her meal (that was something you did on a date!) Naruto was quick to realize what had happened, that Hinata had fainted. He quickly set her down next to the training post and looked her over. He didn't see anything wrong, so he made the decision that he must have squeezed her too hard during the hug, and she had fainted somehow because of it. Now was Naruto's dilemma. How was he going to take a fainted Hinata first to his apartment (so he could get his wallet) and then make it to Ichiraku's? He guessed he would have to carry her, so he lifted her up and put her over his shoulder. He began to walk out of the training ground, but the ANBU had managed to stop snickering while watching them and stopped Naruto from being accused of many terrible things that were not in his nature.

"Where are you going with the Hyuga heiress, Uzumaki-san?" The ANBU asked firmly.

Naruto tried not to look too surprised. "Well, ANBU-san, me and Hinata-chan are going to go get some ramen, and I'm paying, but I have to get my wallet from my house, so we are going there first."

"You are going to carry a girl who has passed out into town?" The ANBU asked, trying to get Naruto to see his folly.

Naruto simply nodded "Yeah, but it kind of sucks, because I have to carry her until she wakes up. It would suck a lot more if it was Choji or something, but Hinata-chan is pretty light."

The ANBU simply paused, and reached for the girl. "Uzumaki-san, how about I wake the girl and take her to the ramen stand, while you retrieve the wallet and meet her there?" Hinata was firmly on their shoulder now, so there wasn't much room for debate.

Naruto simply nodded. "Thanks, ANBU-san. Make sure she gets there safe!" He waved the ANBU good-bye as he ran away from the training ground to his apartment.

…

Hinata stood in front of Ichiraku's ramen, her foot dug into the ground as she was waiting for Naruto to return from his apartment. The ANBU had used smelling salts to wake her up, and had led her to the ramen stand that Hinata could have found herself but, as the ANBU had told her, "Naruto said to make sure you get there safe, Hinata-chan." Hinata never knew that ANBU were allowed to show any emotions, especially teasing. So she stood waiting for her blond idol to show up and pay for them to eat ramen. She looked into the direction of Naruto's apartment, but failed to see any indication of the blonde boy with the orange hoodie. She did notice black haired man that vaguely resembled Iruka-sensei coming towards the ramen shop, but she didn't pay any attention to them. Until they reached for her arm.

She jumped back out of instinct, and tried her best to land a hard glare at the man. The man just gave her a creepy smile and said in an odd voice, "Come on, Hyuga-chan, let us get ramen."

Hinata was not having any of that, but she knew she couldn't just attack a civilian, no matter how big of a creep he was, so she simply shook her head. "N-no civilian-san, I am w-waiting for someone."

The creep just smiled, and grabbed her by the shoulder, forcing her into the ramen stand. "Well, while you wait, we can eat ramen."

Hinata struggled, but the man had a pressure point on her shoulder which limited her movement. They went under the flap, and Hinata instinctively called out to the man Naruto trusted. "Help, chef-san!"

Teuchi looked up and saw a young adult forcing a child, the Hyuga heiress no less, into his ramen shop and decided that he wasn't going to be having that. Grabbing an empty pan he used to cook the meats for his ramen recipes, he swung at the head of the man forcing the Hyuga in. "Let her go, you fiend!"

The man ducked, and let go of Hinata. "Sheesh, can't anyone take a joke?" He said in a voice that both Hinata and Teuchi recognized.

"Naruto?" They asked simultaneously.

The man nodded and said "You caught me." He then made a hand signal which was followed by a puff of chakra smoke that filled the pre-dinner rush stand. As it dissipated a certain Uzumaki stood in its center, a grin on his face. "Fooled you didn't I?"

Teuchi shot at him a look while Hinata tried. She really did, but it wasn't in her to shoot a nasty look, let alone at Naruto. Teuchi shook his head. "You baka, I nearly took off your head! And you scared Miss Hyuga here half to death! You should apologize to her this instant!" He commanded.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on, old man, it was a joke! Hinata-chan thought it was funny, right?" He turned to his female friend, hoping for her agreement.

She stood still for a moment, and shook her head. "No, N-naruto-kun, "She added the honorific that she had been wanting to say all day, but wasn't comfortable saying until Naruto called her –chan, " I was scared. I t-thought a man was t-trying to take me."

Naruto waved it off. "You could have beat me off, you are really strong and stuff! You are strong enough to take down any person that would be stupid enough to kidnap you."

Hinata decided not to comment on the previous attempted kidnapping she had gone through, which she knew Naruto probably didn't know about and had no real reason to know about and instead commented on the assertions she was strong. "I'm n-not t-that strong, Naruto-kun. My family says I'm w-weak." She had a large frown settled on her face, but Naruto didn't let it stay there for long.

He waved off her statement. "Well, your family doesn't know anything. You're really awesome and strong, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata blushed under his praise, and decided not to fight with him. They were supposed to be celebrating Naruto's kekkei genkai, not debating her strength. "W-well, let's get some ramen."

Naruto nodded. "Great idea, Hinata-chan! Hey, old man, give me three order of miso, and whatever she wants!" Naruto took a seat at the bar.

Hinata blushed as she took a seat next to him, and looked at the ramne chef. "An order of chicken, please."

Teuchi was surprised that Naruto had befriended the Hyuga heiress, or that the Hyuga heiress was seemingly a sweet girl. Deciding it wasn't worth getting a headache thinking over, he began to make the order for his only two customers at the moment.

Hinata and Naruto made small talk about classwork and Naruto's henge while Teuchi prepared their meals. When Teuchi was down, he slid the bowls in front of the two. Jokingly, he turned to Hinata. "You can pay, right Hyuga-sama?" He figured she could take a joke like that if she was hanging with Naruto.

Before she could answer, Naruto shook his head. "Nah, she isn't paying, I am!"

Teuchi look surprised, and the only reasonable answer came to mind. "Are you two on a date?"

Hinata, who was going to take her first bite of ramen, froze midway bringing the noodle to her lips. The noodle slid back into the bowl and her entire world went red.

Naruto even blushed at the implication. "What! Old man, stop trying to embarrass me! No, Hinata-chan is my friend. I'm paying for her since she made me realize I have a kekkei genkai."

Teuchi was immediately interested. He knew enough about the shinobi arts to know the significance of a kekkei genkai. He only knew of one Uzumaki in Konoha before Naruto, an old favorite customer of his named Kushina who had an interesting ability with chakra chains, and he wondered if that was what he was talking about. "So what does it do?"

Naruto grinned. "Super healing! It lets me heal from stuff super-duper fast! Like I can break my arm, and it be ok in like half a day! Most people take like a week for it to heal."

Teuchi was amazed by this fact, but knew something was wrong with that info. "No, a broken arm takes six to eight weeks to heal."

Naruto shook his head. "Not if a medic nin heals it!" He was quick to explain, making Teuchi remember the number one rule that a civilian had to remember about shinobi. That reality was however they shaped it. If it took a week to heal a broken arm, it took a week. But still, half a day was impressive.

"Well, something like that is quite impressive. You might want to tell Hokage-sama that you figured out you have such a thing."

Naruto's mood immediately darkened on the topic he had managed to lose with his thoughts on his new friend Hinata and his kekkei genkai. Instead of answering, he dove into his bowl of ramen. Not sure of what to think of such a response, he turned to the Hyuga and for a moment that she had been replaced with a statue. He quickly realized, however, that it was in fact her and grew worried. "Are you alright, Hyuga-sama?" He reached out to her, to try to gain her attention, but it was at this moment she was brought back to life from the vegetative coma she had temporarily entered and shook her purple face that was fading to red. Huddling over her ramen, Teuchi barely managed to register her saying, "Hai" before she began to eat at a quick pace. Unlike with Naruto, Teuchi understood why the Hyuga was acting like that and was surprised that she would have a crush on Konoha's outcast. With a slight smirk, he looked between the two, the embarrassed Hyuga and the oddly moody Naruto and was reminded of the old adage, "Opposites attract." Soon, Naruto had finished his third bowl as Hinata finished her first. Both moods had lightened, and Naruto spoke up.

"Two more miso's for me, old man! I'll be right back, I have to go to the bathroom." Teuchi trusted Naruto to come back, he had just ordered two more bowls, so he let him off. Hinata blushed at what Naruto was doing and quietly ordered another bowl of chicken, being hungry enough for it. Teuchi simply nodded and began to make the three orders. He decided to try and make some small talk with the Hyuga.

"So, Hyuga-sama, how did you and Naruto meet?" He asked innocently as he tended to the noodles.

Hinata blushed, and told him the story of how they had met up that day, skipping over the part about Naruto was crying and why. Naruto may trust this man, but it wasn't for her to tell people about Naruto's personal matters.

Teuchi simply nodded as he fixed up the orders and brought them to the bar stool. "Huh, still doesn't explain why he was acting moody earlier."

"Moody?" Hinata hadn't noticed, but when she went into the coma she would have missed a streaking Kakashi, so she couldn't blame herself.

"Hai. When I told him he should talk to the Hokage about finding his kekkei genkai, his expression changed and became a lot darker and withdrawn. He didn't even answer me, he just ignored me and dug into his ramen." He drifted off, looking towards a returning Naruto.

Hinata, however, was in a mental overdrive. Why would Naruto be like that? Shouldn't he be simply said about how his old caretaker died? So why react to the mention of the Hokage so violently? Did they have a disagreement? What had happened?

Then she remembered how Naruto had said when she mentioned the kami and paradise saying. He had said, "old man." The Hokage was an old man. Then, even more pertinently, about how she had been three years ago, when her mother had passed. The mere mention of her mother in her presence came at the price of a severely depressed six year old. She knew.

Naruto was going to sit in his stool, ready to dig into his two hot bowls of miso when he felt a hand on his shoulder from his right. He looked to the hands owner, whom he had guessed correctly was Hinata, and was surprised to see her stunned reaction. She was gaping, and her wide eyes made her look like a fish gasping for air. Naruto was worried.

"Hinata-chan! Hey, Hinata-chan! What's up? Hinata-chan?" He was trying to capture the attention of the frozen Hyuga, and managed to by the third calling of her name.

"The Hokage is dead!" It wasn't a question. It wasn't a statement of fact. It was her reaction to the processed knowledge that the kind village leader was in fact dead.

Naruto's eyes went wide as his new friend had figured out the secret he was supposed to be keeping. As he was gaping, two new presences hit the scene.

An irritated ANBU had shunshin'd onto the scene, the same one that had been watching them earlier. They knew they should have stopped things earlier, but it seemed innocent and the Uzumaki was getting a friend, so she let it be. But the Hyuga heiress had proved too receptive and had figured out his secret with a few bits of information. Fortunately, the ramen chef hadn't been paying attention as he had gone to the back to get fresh supplies, so they only needed to deal with those two. The ANBU was prepared to take both to isolation at ANBU headquarters, but the killing intent as they had grabbed the Hyuga heiress stopped them for a moment. They turned to look for the source, and was stunned to see a stone faced, but obviously on edge, Hiashi Hyuga.

Hiashi Hyuga was walking to an impromptu council meeting, taking a more scenic route through the business district. He wanted to take a gander at a few of the shops he was looking to invest in for the clan's sake while he made his way to the Hokage's office. He was surprised to hear multiple yelling's of his daughter's name from a ramen stand, and Hiashi had decided to investigate as his daughter had not immediately returned home to the compound. He walked under the flap to hear his daughter yell out that the Hokage was dead, and an ANBU was attempting to take her, and Naruto Uzumaki, whom Hiashi was very intrigued into why he was accompanying his daughter anywhere.

"ANBU-san, please explain what is going on and why you have your hands on my daughter?"

The ANBU gulped, not wanting to get into a confrontation with the head of the Hyuga clan, simply stated. "Please, Hyuga-sama, I must escort you, your daughter, and Uzumaki-san to headquarters. All will be explained once we get there. It is a matter of village security."

Hiashi knew almost instantly what had gone down, years of being a shinobi had sharpened his instincts. The Hokage was dead, the Uzumaki somehow knew and was told to keep it a secret, his daughter had figured it out, and the ANBU was trying to do their duty to contain. He simply nodded, and helped the ANBU with taking those two to their headquarters. He would get the explanation of what was going on there.

…..

Longer chapter, I know, but I hope you like it and find it acceptable. Remember to review, and tell me if I messed up.


	5. The Room

The next chapter of this story, where several important things happen and there is a room involved. Is that enough to peak your interest?

Read and review (REVIEW)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

…..

Hinata and Naruto felt an odd sensation that was quite unsettling, before they found themselves not at Ichiraku's ramen stand but a dimly lit hallway. They were quick to look around, and both saw the ANBU and Hiashi Hyuga. While Hinata was startled to see her father there, Naruto had no idea who he was; just that he had the same eyes as Hinata.

He quickly pointed at the man. "Who the heck are you?" He asked, and then looked around in the new environment they were in. "And where are we?" He asked more generally.

Hiashi Hyuga tensed at the rudeness of the question, but did not take it too personally. The boy was an orphan, who was unliked by the people of Konoha. It was doubtful he was refined. "My name, boy, is Hiashi Hyuga, though you will address me as Hyuga-sama."

Naruto frowned. He didn't like that attitude of this man, though at least he wasn't giving him a look like the villagers did. It was a Sasuke look, one that said 'I am superior, you are beneath me.' He wasn't going to accept that so easily, however.

"I'll address you however I like, Hiashi-chan!" He used a taunt he had used before when villagers that ignored him demanded his respect.

Hinata, still off from her realization and the shunshin, gasped at what Naruto did. "N-n-Naruto-kun!"

Hiashi and Naruto both looked at Hinata, causing her to wilt slightly. Hiashi raised an eyebrow at the honorific used, while Naruto was curious. "Yeah, Hinata-chan?"

With a slight blush on her cheeks, Hinata explained. "Th-that is my father you are sp-sp-speaking too. He is the h-head of the Hyuga clan. You are s-supposed to treat him with respect!" She didn't want her father to dislike Naruto, because that would mean he would explicitly ban her from hanging out with him, or even associating with him at all. That was the last thing she wanted.

Naruto's eyes went wide. A clan head. He knew from Jiji that clan heads were super important and people you wanted to have be your friends. So, Naruto swallowed his pride and gave a slight bow. "Um, sorry Hyuga-sama."

Hiashi acknowledged the apology, but his mind was on more important business. He turned to the ANBU. "From what I understand, Hokage-sama has passed away. Is that correct?"

Naruto eyes dug into the ground, but the ANBU gave a simple nod. "That is correct Hyuga-sama."

Hinata swallowed her tears, trying not to cry over the loss of their village's leader and a man she had met a few times and had found to be extremely nice. Hiashi had no such reaction, but was still in mourning over the loss of a good man. He turned to his daughter. "Hinata, how did you come to realize that fact?"

Hinata wiped away tears that might have been on her face and answered. "Ano, N-Naruto-kun told me s-someone precious to him died. I know he has only an f-few important p-people to him, and the Hokage was one. Then, at the r-ramen stand, the chef t-told me that N-Naruto-kun w-was acting moody when he br-brought up the Hokage. I remembered how I w-was when kaa-san died, and I understood."

Naruto listened somewhat to Hinata retelling how she figured it out, and she felt sorry for her about her mother, but didn't really know what to say to that. He then heard Hiashi say something to him, but he had faded out for a second, missing it.

"What did you say, Hyuga-sama?" Naruto asked embarrassed that he had missed it.

The Hyuga clan leader sighed. "I said, boy, how did you know that Hokage-sama had passed away?"

Naruto's mood darkened and his eyes averted the three people there. He clenched his fist to keep in check his emotions. "I was the one who found him." He managed to say aloud, eliciting a gasp from Hinata. She would have run over to comfort Naruto, but she couldn't do such a thing with her father there.

Hiashi let his eyes linger on the boy. "When was this?"

Naruto squeezed his fists. "About 5 o'clock yesterday."

Hiashi turned to the ANBU. "You mean we have been without a Hokage for twenty four hours and no one was notified!"

The ANBU backed down, but Naruto was quick to defend them. "Don't yell at him! It isn't his fault. Ino's dad said they had to keep it a secret while they made sure if someone killed him." Naruto choked up on the last few words, but managed not to lose control of his emotions.

"Ino's father? Do you mean Inoichi, head of the Yamanaka clan?" Naruto nodded to Hiashi's question, which led Hiashi to thinking for a moment. He then turned to the ANBU. "ANBU-san, I will trust you with my daughter until I return. A jounin council meeting was called, and I suspect it was to inform us of the Hokage's demise, among other things. Can I trust you with my daughter?" He eyed the ANBU, a protective streak over his failing, but still his, daughter.

The ANBU nodded. "Hai, Hyuga-sama. You can trust me."

Hiashi nodded to the ANBU's response, and began to walk out of the dimly lit hallway, thinking to himself. _So, Danzo and the elders kept this quiet until the meeting, which is no doubt Danzo's ploy to gain the approval of the council to become the Godaime Hokage. I see through your plans Danzo, and they won't work. You will not be wearing that hat over your bandaged head!_

The ANBU, on the other hand, led Naruto and Hinata to a small room not far from where they were standing in the hallway. A cursory glance of the room showed a few magazines and books on a coffee table, a couch, and a few chairs. There was a water cooler in the corner of the room stocked with cups. While the two youngsters studied the room, the ANBU spoke. "While initially Uzumaki-san we were going to let you remain free, you failed to keep the secret you promised to keep. Since it was not intentional, we need only put you into isolation until the truth is revealed to the general populace, which should be tomorrow. As for you, Hinata-sama, we need to keep you in isolation until your father returns from the jounin council meeting. You two can read and relax here until then. Water is in the corner, in case you become thirsty. Seeing as you ate before this, that should not be a concern. I will be standing guard of this room, so if anything should arise, knock on the door and I will respond. Good day." With that, the ANBU left the isolation room and closed the door behind them, leaving Naruto and Hinata alone in the room.

After hearing the door shut, Hinata turned to Naruto and said. "I'm sorry."

Naruto broke out of his funk temporarily with a confused look on his face. "For what?"

Hinata dipped her head. "C-cause of me, you have to spend th-the night here."

Naruto looked around and shrugged. "It isn't too bad." He made his way to a chair to sit down. Hinata was quick to follow, taking a seat next to him.

"Th-that isn't the only r-reason I'm sorry. I'm s-sorry about your loss, t-too." Hinata quietly told him, hands on her lap.

Naruto looked away, and gave a weak smile. "Thanks." He told her, before focusing his attention of the blank wall.

Hinata bit her lip, unsure of what to do. It was obvious Naruto didn't want to think about it, but his mind was going to be on it unless he got distracted. They were friends now, she thought, but she didn't want to push too much on him about her. She also wasn't too comfortable talking about what was on her mind, but she decided if it would help Naruto, then she would suck it up.

"I know how it f-feels." She suddenly said out loud, before she squeaked, surprised she was actually bringing it up, even though she said she would.

Naruto turned his head to look at Hinata. "Hmm?"

Hinata blushed, realizing he hadn't fully heard her. "A-ano, I know how it f-feels to lose s-someone important to you."

Naruto stopped to think about it, and began to nod. "Yeah, you said you lost your mom. I'm sorry about that."

Hinata smiled slightly as her crush gave his condolences. "It's o-okay. It h-happened a few years ago."

"How did she die?" Naruto quickly asked, then realized what he so bluntly said. "I- I mean, we don't have to talk about it or anything." He tried to back off the subject quickly. If he didn't want to talk about Jiji, why would she want to talk about her mother?

"She had t-t-tuberculosis. By the t-time the doctors realized it, she w-was too sick for them to f-fix." Hinata glumly reflected.

Naruto nodded in comfort. "That sucks."

Hinata wanted to laugh at the blunt reaction, but was too depressed too. "Y-yeah, it does." A silence filled the air after she said that, both of them reflecting on their fallen one.

"I f-found her." She broke the silence, much to her own surprise. But she had wanted to bring this up, just to show she didn't pity him or anything. He had a confused look on his face, so she explained. "I w-wanted to show her an fl-flower I found, and went to her r-room. I th-thought she w-was sleeping, b-but…" Recounting it proved too much for her, as she began to break down into tears. Naruto's eyes went wide, not sure what to do, until he decided to try what he did last time she cried. He got up from his seat, and pulled her into a hug from her chair.

"It's okay, Hinata. Don't cry. I don't like to see my friends cry." He spoke into her ear, getting rewarded with a gasp and a sniffle.

"Y-you think I'm yo-yo-your friend?" She looked up at him, wide-eyed. Sure, she thought they were friends, but to hear it from him… it stunned her. She watched as he nodded, and a burst of happiness came from within her. She wrapped her arms around him, and hugged him back, burying her face in his chest.

At this point, Naruto was beyond confused, but he just tightened the hug. It seemed like the best thing to do. Then, he felt dead weight suddenly in his arms. Prying Hinata off of him, he realized she had fainted again. He wondered if it was a problem of hers, but quickly decided he didn't care. So what if she fainted a lot? She was his friend, so he didn't care if she was actually a Sasuke fan girl or even liked vegetables. He would be there for her. So, he picked her up and laid her down on the couch, figuring she would be more comfortable there. He then looked over the magazine pile and found a fairly recent one about cooking. He grabbed it and plopped into a chair. He normally wasn't a big fan of cooking, but he thought it might be worth the read if they had any ramen recipes in it.

About a half hour later, Hinata fluttered her eyes open and let out a small yawn, indicating to Naruto that she was waking up. Throwing the useless cooking magazine onto the pile, he turned to his friend and waited for her to actually be up-up.

Hinata sat up and stretched her arms out, letting out a second yawn. It was about then she realized what had happened, and why she had been napping. Her face glowed pink as she looked for Naruto. She saw him watching her, causing her to gasp in surprise. Immediately embarrassed, she began to apologize. "Ano, s-sorry Naruto-kun." She wanted to say more, but he cut her off.

"Forget about it, Hinata-chan. I get it."

Hinata's eyes widened in shock. He did? He knew about her feelings for him. She began to move to the edge of her seat, hoping for a positive response.

"I mean, it must suck having a medical condition that makes you faint and stuff, but it doesn't matter to me."

She deflated slightly, being wrong about him realizing the truth, but quickly perked up that he was being nice to her and didn't mind that she fainted around him. She gave him a smile. "Thank you, Naruto-k-kun."

Naruto smiled back at her. "No problem. So, what do you want to do until your dad gets back?"

She wasn't sure, as her hands drifted together, fingers poking. He assumed it meant she was thinking, so he didn't interrupt her, but it actually meant that she had no clue herself. An awkward pause arose, until Hinata blurted out something to end it. "I can t-tell you what you m-missed in class today!" She quickly covered her mouth after her outburst but he quickly began to nod his head.

"Why not?"

With that, she began to tell him about their day in school. She started off with the math lesson, which involved multiplying and dividing large numbers, something he wasn't too interested in. They discussed in history early Kumo history and their Raikage's, something he noticed made her uncomfortable. She brought up their writing class and kanji practice, and that they had a small lesson on plant life in the wild. She began to describe the few poisonous leaves that had been brought up, something that made him nod furiously. He remembered a question he had asked a few weeks ago about going number two during a mission. This knowledge complemented that tremendously.

She told him about that they went over their defensive katas, making him grin. He had actually done that. Then, they had a practice of the bunshin jutsu, seeing how far they had gotten. Naruto frowned, knowing his was easily the worst in the class. Trying not to be a downer, he asked her how far she had gotten. It made him feel worse when he found out she had done the best in the class, even better than Sasuke-teme, much to his surprise and temporary amusement.

After she finished summing up class, they had to try and find something else to do. They tried RoShamBo, but after losing nine of thirteen contests while only winning one, Naruto didn't want to play anymore. He then suggested tag, but Hinata said she didn't want to destroy anything. He looked around for anything they could use, when he had an idea. Telling Hinata to turn around, he set his plan into motion. He then began to sing to hide what he was doing, which Hinata found cute and funny, even if it wouldn't be considered good. After nearly five minutes of this, he told her to turn around. Whatever she had been expecting, she hadn't expected to be hit in the face. Gathering her bearings, she saw Naruto with something in his hand and throw it at her. Reflexes kicking in, she caught the item he had thrown. She began to examine it, realizing it was a paper ball. She pulled it apart, and saw it was a page of a magazine. She looked up to Naruto, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't worry. They were two magazines that no one would ever read." With that, he picked up another ball from the pile at his feet and threw it at her head. She ducked it, and saw the paper ball pile at her feet. She wasn't really sure about this, but then felt the back of her head get pelted by a paper ball. She watched it fall into her pile. A small mischievous smile graced her face. She picked back up the ball, and balled back up the one in her hand.

"H-here. Have them b-back." With that, she hurled them back at Naruto. He ducked them both, and returned fire. It was on. They began to run around the room, pelting one another with the paper balls, dodging them as well. It began as chaos, but as the game continued they became more ninja like. They began to hide behind chairs and the couch, and began making more difficult throws to hit one another. It became a war of attrition with their paper balls, which was how the ANBU and a smirking Hiashi Hyuga found them. A cough by the ANBU got both of their attentions. Naruto simply rubbed the back of his neck at being caught, while Hinata blushed and grew worried that she was going to be yelled at for playing such a childish game.

"Hinata, would you please explain what is going on?" Hiashi asked his daughter, looking over the messy room.

Before she could say something, Naruto stepped up. "Umm, it's my fault Hiashi-sama. We were bored, so I made a bunch of paper balls and convinced Hinata-chan to play along."

Hiashi raised his eyebrow slightly, and turned his attention back to his daughter. "Is that true?"

Hinata nodded, still fidgety. "H-hai, otou-sama."

Hiashi looked at the two, then focused on Naruto. "Since it was your idea, you do not mind being the one that has to clean it up, do you boy?"

Naruto gave a nervous smile. "Uhh, no Hiashi-sama. No problem at all."

Hiashi stared at him for another second, and gave a slight smile. "Good." He looked at his daughter. "Come, Hinata. It is time to return to the manor."

Hinata gave a small nod, and turned to Naruto. "B-b-bye Naruto-kun. Today w-was fun."

Naruto nodded back. "Yeah, it was! See you later, Hinata-chan."

Hinata gave a small smile back, and shuffled out of the room, following her father out of the room. The ANBU looked around, and Naruto could tell they were frowning behind their mask. "You will clean this up immediately, understand Uzumaki-san?"

Naruto nodded to the ANBU, causing the ANBU to leave. He would clean it up. Eventually.

…

Naruto tried to relieve his boredom, and keep his mind off of things he didn't want to think about. He played soccer with the paper balls, but they honestly sucked as replacement soccer balls. He instead began to try and play basketball with them, but after the wastebasket had gotten fairly full, they had begun to bounce out surrounding the perimeter of the basket. Deciding that everything was good enough, he began to do things to fill up time. Go to the bathroom. Read random magazines until they lost in them. Henge into random things. That one actually filled him time. He tried to perfect the Giso disguise, which he thought he had done, when he got a burst of inspiration. Could he henge into items? It was a random thought, one that he immediately put to test. The result had been hilarious.

"ANBU-san! Come in, quick!" Naruto yelled out, trying to gain the attention of his guard. He could almost hear him sigh out of annoyance. He heard the ANBU grab the door, and he put the plan into action.

The ANBU was slow to come in, as they knew there was no actual reason for them to hurry into the room. It itself was impenetrable without causing a lot of ruckus, something that would have been noticed long before they could have. And if he had gotten himself into trouble, they would have heard it. And all that they had heard was some mutterings and poofs. So as they walked in, they took a casual glance around the room, seeing what possible incident he had gotten himself into. So they were quite startled when they didn't see a Naruto. They frantically looked around the room, and didn't see anything. The ANBU gulped, scared that they had messed up and somehow the brat got kidnapped. That was not a good thing. Quickly they got desperate enough to look behind all the chairs and couch. It was only when they grabbed an orange chair did they sense the henge. They looked at the orange chair, which, upon simple observation, was a quite misshapen chair, and squeezed tightly on the spot they had grabbed. The pressure caused a puff of smoke to form, and, as the smoke cleared, their hand on Naruto's shoulder became clear. With a guilty look, he gave a quick wave with his free arm. "Uhh, hello?"

After getting yelled at, Naruto was forced to go to sleep. The ANBU had been nice enough to give him a pillow, though it wasn't a particularly comfortable one. He forced himself to sleep and enjoy it. He fought off a few nightmares, nothing that was too bad as to wake him up. But visions of a dead Iruka, Teuchi, Ayame, and Hinata, and of a much bloodier Sandaime, were rough on him.

He woke up eventually, though not sure of the time, and immediately called out to the ANBU to see if he could go to the bathroom. The ANBU let him out, and Naruto only barely registered they were wearing a different mask. After returning, he managed to get a nice well rounded breakfast, much more than the cup ramen he had asked for. He then had to find something to take up his time until he was freed. The defensive katas worked perfectly for this.

Eventually, he heard the door open. He turned to the new ANBU. "What's up?" He walked from the water cooler, conveniently on a water break.

The ANBU waved him out of the door. "They are getting ready to make the announcement about the Hokage-sama. You are now free to go."

Naruto was confused. "That's it? I can just walk out?"

The ANBU shook his head. "Pretty much. However, I will need you to wear this blindfold." They pulled it out of nowhere.

"What?" Naruto was taken aback by this random development.

He could hear the ANBU sigh. "If you haven't realized, you are in a private section of ANBU headquarters. All information about this location must be kept secret from all non-ANBU members of Konoha."

Naruto frowned but nodded. The ANBU tied the blindfold around his eyes and led him out of the room and the base. When the blindfold was finally taken off, he found himself a block away from the Hokage tower. He looked up to the ANBU as he noticed the mass of people walking towards it.

"The announcement will be made from the tower. That way everything is made clear to the populace. When it isn't, things can get out of hand…" The ANBU explained, and Naruto felt the guilty atmosphere they were sending off.

Naruto wasn't really sure what to say to that, so he simply nodded to the ANBU and left to join the crowd. He might get more news about what happened. The ANBU watched Naruto leave and let out another sigh, and tightened his dog mask to fit more properly before vanishing.

Naruto walked around, making sure not to bump into anyone, looking for someone that he could stand with and not get yelled at. He smiled as he saw some of his classmates, including Hinata. He made his way over to her, waving.

"Hey, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata looked up and saw him, causing a slight blush before she waved back. "H-hi Naruto-kun."

Shikamaru was standing nearby them and let out a groan. "Where have you been, Naruto? You missed the last two days of class, then randomly show up when we get let out early for some announcement."

Naruto shrugged him off, and turned his attention back to Hinata. "So how did it all go with your dad?"

Hinata fidgeted slightly. "He d-didn't say m-much. He had to l-leave for the capital w-with a few people like the Sandaime's s-son and a man n-named D-danzo."

Shikamaru overheard and raised an eyebrow to that knowledge, but didn't comment on it. Also standing near them was Ino, who was in a gossipy mood. She quickly butted into the conversation. "How come?"

Hinata was startled by the interruption, but was quick to respond. "I-I don't know."

Ino frowned. "Well then, do either of you guys know what this thing is all about?"

Shikamaru shook his head, but both Hinata and Naruto wore guilty looks. Ino's eyes widened. "You do know? Well? What's it about?"

Before either could ask, two elderly people made their presence known on the ledge of the Hokage tower. "People of Konoha, we bring you sad news. " The woman called out, gaining the attention of the whole crowd.

She continued. "I am sad to announce that our Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, has passed away-" She wanted to say more, but the gasps drowned her out. Ino looked really surprised, and stared at both Naruto and Hinata who had apparently known. Others were gazing at Naruto, but not for the same reasons. Both grew uncomfortable by the attention, but the woman on the ledge managed to gain a grasp on the crowd.

"Calm down, please. I know this is a terrible shock to everyone, but there is no reason to fall into anarchy." A silence overcame the crowd as they refocused on the women. "You must not fear war, as the Sandaime's passing was by natural causes, part of living a long hard life. There is no one to blame for this tragedy." She meant to calm any fears of war, but had instead managed to placate the crowd that Naruto was innocent and not to be mobbed.

Yells from the crowd directed at the duo on the edge came, and they quickly responded. The man stepped forward. "As for questions about the funeral, it is due for five days from now. As for questions about who is in command, until the convoy of candidates return from the capital with the Daimyo's selection, we will lead the village as the Sandaime's former council."


	6. Next

This is Chapter Six, and a major chapter of the story. I had planned on splitting this into two, the last small bit being expanded, but I do not think I could write that topic well enough to fit a good sized chapter. I am very proud of it though, and my chapter in general. I hope you will like it, and I expect to hear alot of comments on it. One more chapter after this, and I will take a break on this story to update THHH and NLH. But anyways, read, enjoy, review!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

...

It was the day after the announcement of the Sandaime's passing, and the village was still in mourning. Iruka had let the class off early the day before, and had simply canceled it for that day. The village was pretty quiet, and even the normally loud and boisterous had been dampened. As was the case with Naruto, who was talking at a lower decibel level with his new friend Hinata on the way to their training ground. At the moment, Hinata was explaining something Naruto couldn't quite grasp.

"So let me get this straight, even though your Byakugan can see through clothes, the Hyuga's aren't perverts?"

Hinata blushed at the accusation (and its continuation in her own thoughts) and nodded. "Hai. W-we Hyuga are trained to n-never use our Byakugan for t-that."

Naruto frowned. "But it is so easy! How could they not do that?"

"W-we are trained not to. W-we know it is w-wrong to do so." Hinata responded.

Naruto thought about it for a moment, and let out a sigh. "I still don't believe you. I bet all Hyuga's are a bunch of pervs." He listened to what he had said, and was quick to add. "Not you, Hinata-chan. You would never do something like that." He thought about it for a moment. "Or your dad. He seems too strict to do anything like peep."

Hinata frowned. "N-naruto-kun, m-most Hyuga are like my father."

Naruto stopped, and looked at Hinata. Hinata was slightly embarrassed by the focus on her, and wanted to ask Naruto why he was staring, but he spoke up. "I'm glad you didn't end up like them. It would suck if you were strict and Sasukish."

Hinata was surprised to hear that someone was glad she wasn't a proper Hyuga, but hearing it from Naruto made it special. Tugging at the sleeves of her blue blouse, she gave a small smile and thanked Naruto for the compliment.

He grinned. "No problem."

They continued to walk side by side to Naruto's private training ground, when another topic came to Naruto's head. "Ano, do you think that your dad is one of the Hokage candidates?"

Hinata was surprised by the question. "W-w-what?"

Naruto was quick to explain. "Well, your dad had to go to the capital, right?" Hinata nodded, so Naruto continued. "And didn't those old people who worked Jiji say that the candidates for the next Hokage went to see the Daimyo, right?" Hinata nodded again, beginning to see where he was going. "And the Daimyo lives in the capital right? I mean, that is what Iruka-sensei said right?" Hinata nodded, thinking Naruto was just leading her to the logical question. In fact, Naruto wasn't a hundred percent sure, he was never very attentive in class and was afraid he was wrong about the matter. But seeing he was not, he finished his thought. "So, if your dad has to go to the capital, and the Daimyo lives there, then he might be going to see if the Daimyo picks him to be Hokage."

Hinata could only agree to that thinking. She put a hand over her mouth, surprised that she hadn't realized it. Though it did explain the tense but eager atmosphere of the clan ever since her father left two days before. She was slightly ashamed she hadn't realized it, but she was also slightly happy for her father. Her father, though strict, was a good leader and truly did care for everyone in the clan, even his weak daughter. She was sure that her father would do the same if he became the village's leader.

"W-wow." Was all that Hinata could say to that thinking.

Naruto could only agree. "You're really lucky! Your dad could be Hokage! I can't imagine how you'd feel."

Hinata was really quiet as she tried to figure that out herself. "Ano, I think I would be proud."

Naruto nodded, scratching his chin. "Yeah, I guess."

With that, they found themselves in the clearing of the training ground, but were surprised to see that they in fact were not alone. Already there in the training ground were three adults, two woman and an old man.

One women looked to be in her twenties, while the other looked to be in her thirties. The younger one was a brunette wearing a dark blue kimono, carrying, of all things, a pig. The older one was a blonde with a diamond on her forehead. She wore a grey obi that was around her waist, and dark pants to compliment the outfit. The old man looked to be in his late forties or early fifties, with huge spiky white hair and red lines on his face. He also had a very odd headband, not a normal one for Konoha. He wore a red vest with some sort of green shirt with pants that matched it. On his back was a giant scroll. It was an interesting group to say the least. They didn't notice the arrival of the two so they kept up their conversation.

"I was so mad at him, tying me to the post. I never thought he would mean so much to me." The man's tone turned sad. "I didn't even get to see him after the Kyuubi attack."

"I can't believe the medics here were so incompetent! How couldn't they catch a blood clot! Back in my day, they would have caught that in a heartbeat. Pitiful." The blonde ranted towards the man, seeming to be on her own tangent.

He could only nod his head and sigh. "Hai. I can't believe sensei would die of something so … normal. I would have thought he would have gone out in some style at least. Defending the village, maybe, or knocking off Orochimaru. Or maybe something cooler, like in the middle of a few ladies in bed, a heart attack during the big bang- I think I have my new book idea!" Before he could go on a roll, the blonde flattened him with a bonk on the head.

"Damn pervert, only you would think of something like that. You know he would never look at another women after Biwako-chan died. That was the only reason he read your perverted books."

The man rubbed his head as he slowly stood up. "I know hime, I was just talking about myself, about how I want to go. Me, a big bed, and two women for each head!" The perverted poem earned him a backhand from the disgusted blonde, sending him into a tree next to where Naruto and Hinata stood.

The brunette turned to watch the flying pervert and was startled to see the two kids. "Tsunade-sama! Two children have seemed to have found us."

The blonde called Tsunade raised her eyebrows and turned to look at the duo. "Oi, what are two gaki's like you doing here?"

Naruto stepped up to the plate. "This is my training ground! What the heck are you two and the perv over there, "pointing to the white haired man, "doing at my training ground?"

The blonde rolled her eyebrows. "Gaki, me and that perv over there have been using this training ground since before your parents were born. So it isn't yours. If anything, it's ours."

The sting about the parent comment caused Naruto to pause, and let Hinata take up his place. She had listened to their conversation closely, and had realized something. "Ts-tsunade? As in the Sannin, Tsunade?"

Tsunade looked at Hinata and smirked. "A stuttering Hyuga. Never thought I'd see the day. And yes, I am the Sannin Tsunade. And over there," pointing to the man who was pulling himself out of the tree, "is the Sannin Jiraiya, but you can just call him pervert."

He walked back to Tsunade, frowning. "If you are going to introduce me, at least do it right." He turned to the two, not really taking note of who they are. "Allow me to properly introduce myself. I am the great toad sage of Mt. Myoboku, the legendary Sannin, the man that all men envy and all women desire, I am the Gallant Jiraiya!" With his introduction came an odd kabuki dance that both found strange. "And for your information, Tsunade-hime, I am not a pervert. I am a super pervert!" He grinned widely.

Naruto was just amazed by the situation. They had just learned about the Second Shinobi World War in class, the basics of it, and one of the things Iruka brought up had been the exploits of the Sannin, the three students of the Sandaime Hokage and their survival against the forces of Amegakure. And he was meeting two of them face to face. But a sudden though struck him.

"Hey, "He pointed to Tsunade, "Aren't you supposed to be, I don't know, older?"

Tsunade glared at the boy. "What are you talking about, brat?"

"Well, you don't look that old, but you have to be like really old if you were Jiji's students. I mean, that super pervert looks old enough, but not you." Naruto plainly explained.

"Well, I just aged gracefully, so there." Tsunade fibbed.

Naruto didn't detect the fib and only nodded. "Wow, you're really lucky!"

Tsunade smiled at the ironic comment. Jiraiya was tempted to reveal the truth, but he didn't feel like having his brain scrambled. He looked at the two kids finally and nearly fainted in shock

"Minato's boy…" He murmured to himself, only loud enough for Naruto and Hinata to know he said something.

"What did you say, Pervert-sama?" Naruto asked him.

Instead of looking for an excuse, Jiraiya took offense to the comment. "Pervert-sama? Pervert-sama? Why did you call me Pervert-sama?"

Naruto simply scratched the back of his head. "Well, you said you were a pervert, and you are really strong, so I think Pervert-sama is a good name for you."

Tsunade let out a laugh. "He got you good, Jiraiya. Perert-sama. Brilliant. So, kid, what's your name. Your little girlfriend too."

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki and this is my friend, Hinata Hyuga."

Tsunade raised her eyebrow. "Ah, your Hiashi's kid, right?"

The blushing Hyuga, a deep near comatose red at the accusation of the Sannin (that Naruto had misconstrued into something innocent) could only nod.

"Your father is an idiot."

Hinata gasped at the bold accusation. She was flabbergasted by the accusation upon her father. Naruto was quick to defend his friend's parent. "Hey, Tsunade, you shouldn't say things like that! Why are you calling Hinata-chan's dad an idiot for?"

Tsunade put up two fingers. "Two reasons. First, anyone who wants to be Hokage is an idiot. It's a job for people with silly dreams and death wishes. Secondly, everyone knows the Daimyo won't pick a Hyuga as Hokage. Especially Hiashi."

Naruto was angry at the woman. "What are you talking about! What do you mean anyone that wants to be Hokage is an idiot! Being Hokage is my dream!"

Tsunade looked up and down the boy, and gave him a smirk. "Exactly."

Naruto growled. "Shut it, baa-chan!"

Tsunade's demeanor darkened. "What'd you say boy?"

Naruto took a defiant step towards her. "You heard me, baa-chan."

Tsunade cracked her knuckles and moved menancingly toward the boy. The woman with the pig stepped in front of her. At the same time, Hinata grabbed Naruto's wrist.

"Tsunade-sama, he is only a boy. You don't have to hit him."

"N-naruto-kun, p-please stop. I don't want you to get hurt."

The two blondes looked at the female companion trying to stop them, and sighed simultaneously.

"Alright, Shizune, I won't kill the brat. If he stops calling me baa-chan"

"Fine Hinata-chan. I won't call her baa-chan again."

The two peacekeepers nodded to their ward, and then to one another. They both realized what they did and both let out a small giggle. They moved to the side and began to chat

Jiraiya let out a smirk as he looked at the boy. "Hokage, eh? You know, I bet I could help with that." 'And karma won't kill me for putting being a ninja over my grandson duties.'

Naruto cocked his head to the old man. "What are you talking about? How could you help me, you old perv?" He understood the man was strong, but he doubted he could actually help him be Hokage.

Jiraiya let out a smirk. "Because, brat, don't you know who my most famous student was?" Naruto shook his head. "Well, the fine student I had the honor of molding into a legend was none other the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto's jaw dropped. This pervert was taught by his idol. How was that even plausible. "You taught the Yondaime?" He turned to the woman he just argued with. "He taught the Yondaime?"

Tsunade nodded. "I still don't believe it either gaki."

Naruto's eyes began to sparkle as he rushed to the pervert and got on his knees. "Oh, teach me Pervert-sensei."

Jiraiya frowned, and squatted down to the boy's level. "Well, I won't if you keep calling me that, gaki."

Naruto grunted. "Fine, please, teach me Jiraiya-sensei."

Jiraiya nodded. "Better. Know, you want me to teach you how to be Hokage? That is a pretty tall order. A lot of people would love this training. Why should I teach you over anyone else?"

Naruto jumped up. "Because I will be Hokage!"

"That doesn't tell me much, gaki, but I will let it pass if you answer one question for me. If you pass, then I will teach you some things. Agreed?" Naruto quickly nodded. "Good. Now brat, my question is, why? Why do you want to be Hokage?"

"Is that all? I thought it would be a hard question. I want to be Hokage so that everyone will recognize and respect me." Naruto let out a smile as he explained his dream

Jiraiya simply nodded. "Nice answer, kid. Congratulations."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "You mean you will teach me how to be Hokage?"

Jiraiya shook his head. "Nope."

Naruto felt betrayed. "B-but you said, if I get your question, you would teach me."

Jiraiya nodded. "True, I did. But you didn't get the right answer."

"But you said…" Naruto began to argue, but Jiraiya cut him off.

"I said if you pass. You didn't."

"Then why did you say congratulations?" Naruto was very confused and annoyed by this old perverted man.

"Because, you don't want to be the Hokage for the wrong reasons. Just not for the right reasons."

Naruto frowned. "Then what the heck are the right reasons?"

Jiraiya smiled, and ruffled his head. "Gaki, when you figure that out, I'll train you." He turned to Tsunade. "Hey, hime, I think it's time to tell the old farts we're here. Let's head out."

Tsunade sighed. "Yeah, Jiraiya, you're probably right." She looked back to her student. "Hey, Shizune! Stop chatting it up with the Hyuga and hurry up!"

Shizune nodded. "Hai, Tsunade-sama." She turned back to Hinata. "I will drop by the compound soon to help, alright?"

Hinata nodded. "Hai, Shizune-sensei."

Shizune gave a grin. "Great then. See you soon, Hinata-chan." With that, she followed her already leaving sensei.

"See ya, Baa-chan, Pervert-sama, nice lady!" The growls of annoyance were heard by Naruto, by duly ignored. He walked over to a smiling Hinata. "So, what were you and that lady talking about? And what did she mean dropping by your compound?"

"You mean Shizune-sensei? I told her about m-my cream, and she was interested. She s-said she could show me some healing techniques. She -also wants to show me h-how to use senbon. She thinks m-my Byakugan makes it more dangerous." Hinata was glad that someone, let alone the student of a Sannin, was interested in helping her. It made her feel warm.

"You mean she is gonna teach you! Lucky. Pervert-sama won't teach me anything unless I tell him the right answer to be Hokage! I don't know what he wants! For all I know, he could want me to let it be okay to be a pervert or something!" Naruto threw up his hands in the air with the last comment, exasperated by the situation.

Hinata shrugged. "I d-don't know. B-but even if he won't help, you will become Hokage. I know it!"

Naruto slowly turned to the girl, surprised. He was stunned that she had said that. He didn't think anyone would ever even admit he could be Hokage, but this girl, his friend, said he would become Hokage. A slow smile began to spread across his face, and he made a grab for the girl She squeaked as he pulled her into his body, wrapping his arms around her. "You really think that?"

She was on the edge of consciousness, and had become as red as the spiral on his back, but she was still aware enough to know what Naruto meant. "I do." She managed to whisper out, but was just loud enough for Naruto to hear.

He slackened his grip and looked her eye to eye. "You're awesome, Hinata-chan." He fully released her, letting her turn around and catch her breath (and not faint). Once she turned back around, recovered, he motioned for her to follow him. "Well, I can't become Hokage by just standing around! Let's start!" She nodded and followed him.

…

Three days had passed since they had met with the two Sannin, and they were back into school. It was currently lunch time, and Naruto was in the odd position of not being alone for lunch. Instead, he was sitting next to Hinata on his right and Ino of all people on his left. Shikamaru was laying down across from them cloud gazing, but still fully into the conversation.

"You're so lucky, Hinata! That Shizune lady sounds really nice, training you until she leaves and all." Ino looked around Naruto, at Hinata.

Hinata nodded, "Hai, it is. N-normally, the elders don't like Hyuga's l-learning medicine, but she is a Sannin's apprentice. They think it is a great honor."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, she gets to learn from her, but that stupid pervert won't teach me! No offense Hinata, but I'm more awesome, so why shouldn't I get that awesome Hokage training."

Ino snorted. "You? Hokage training? If anything, Sasuke-kun deserves Hokage training, but then again, I don't want him learning from any man that calls himself a super pervert. I don't get why you want to learn from the guy."

"Troublesome, he did teach the Yondaime, Ino. If I had aspirations for being Hokage, I can't think of any better teacher." Shikamaru said, only to see if it would end the conversation and let him watch the cloud's in quiet. He would hang with Chouji, but apparently he was in a bulking up stage for his training and the sound's he made prepping were too loud for quality cloud watching, hence he was here. Though that spot around Sasuke was quiet and tempting…

"He even said he'd teach me, if I figure out why I should want to be Hokage, but I have no idea what he wants!" Naruto exclaimed, his tone betraying his annoyance.

"Y-you'll get it, Naruto-kun." Hinata quietly encouraged him.

He turned to her and smiled. "Thanks, Hinata-chan. At least you believe in me." He shot a look at Ino, but she ignored him. Instead, she was giving the two an evil smile.

Naruto saw that smile, and grew worried. "What is that smile for?"

Ino heard him, and waved him off. "Oh, nothing. Just a weird daydream I had. About a girl with these white eyes tinted blue, and long beautiful blonde hair."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "That's a weird daydream, isn't it Hinata?" He turned to his friend, only to have to catch her as she fell backwards. Naruto sighed as his friend's arch-nemesis had reared its head again. She had fainted.

He was quick to move, and picked her up bridal style, walking away from Ino and Shikamaru. "See you guys, I have to take her to the nurse. Maybe she will know how to fix her fainting problem." He was soon out of sight, leading to Ino cackling.

Shikamaru sighed. "That was just mean, Ino. "

Ino managed to stop her laughing and shrugged. "So? She will have to get used to the idea when they get together. I'm not the only one who thinks that, right?" She stared at Shikamaru.

He shrugged from his position. "Yeah, still doesn't mean you should make her faint. Naruto doesn't have a clue, it isn't fair for him."

Ino smiled. "So? This gives me something to do when I can't find Sasuke-kun."

Shikamaru sighed, staring back up in the sky. "So, who do you think will be the next Hokage?"

Ino's smile fell. "I don't know. Dad said we will find out after the funeral tomorrow. I only know the people that my dad said were pre-approved. Hinata's dad, the Sandaime's rival, and both of the Sannin. I hope they pick Lady Tsunade. It would be cool if there was a female Hokage. Who do you think will be picked, Shikamaru?"

"Troublesome. I don't know, Jiraiya-sama. I mean, he did teach a Hokage and learn from one and all. I really don't care to think about it too much. We will find out tomorrow."

"Wait, if you don't care, then why did you ask?" Ino asked Shikamaru.

Shikamaru didn't say anything. He considered it a bit of poetic justice.

...

Tomorrow came, and the skies were fittingly dark.

Naruto had actually talked with Iruka, and Iruka had given him the same suit he wore for the Kyuubi attack service nearly a decade earlier. Iruka knew the truth, Naruto had told him when asked where he had been, and he was feeling especially sympathetic to him.

It was a simple set up, his casket was above ground on a platform, a few stylish flowers on a table in front of the casket, and a picture of the Sandaime, not in his robes, but as Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Naruto stood with Iruka, since Hinata was with her family near the coffin itself and neither orphan had someone to stand with. He saw Hinata's black dress, and thought she looked nice in it. He looked around for the other people he knew would be there, and observed them.

Shikamaru was actually staying awake, posture straight, but that was mostly due to the light chiding of his mother behind him. She would never yell at him during a funeral, and he would never be so disrespectful at one.

Ino and her father were standing on his side, both focused on the coffin.

Jiraiya was wearing proper shoes and a black version of his outfit, but still had his face paint, his scroll, and his headband were on him.

Tsunade was wearing a long black dress with short sleeves. Her apprentice was wearing a black kimono. Their pig was even there, wearing a black vest.

A monk from a local temple led the service, as he blessed his body and gave good words for the late Hokage.

The first person to get to talk was his family, represented by two men and a boy, almost five.

The older one spoke first, revealing himself to be the Sandaime's son, and spoke of his father's kindness and love of his village. About how he would have died for his village, and had given up his retirement to retake the title without a second thought.

He showed off the boy, his son, who said a few words. He told the world his name was Konohamaru, and he would be Hokage someday, just like his grandpa.

The younger man spoke, giving his name as Asuma. He showed remorse, and revealed his estrangement to his father. He broke down as he confessed he never got to resolve it, and it had been his fault.

The next to speak were the two old people who had announced his death. Naruto was surprised to find out they had been his teammates. They recounted how Sarutobi had become Hokage, and how, with every decision, he asked "How would it affect the village?" They both shared stories of when they were genin, and how they knew he was destined for greatness since then.

A crippled man came up next, telling them he was Danzo, Sarutobi's lifelong rival. He admitted he had never seen eye to eye with the man, but (besides himself) he wouldn't have asked as anyone else to lead the village. He was a good person, and someone that, Danzo had never admitted in life, was a good friend.

Jiraiya spoke next, and told the crowd of his days as a genin with his fellow Sannin. He told of his idolization of the man, and the great respect he held for him throughout his life. He admitted his only regret was not getting to see the man in the last decade of his life.

Tsunade came up, and spoke briefly. She didn't say anything disrespectful, but that he was glad that he had the luck to die of old age, unlike most shinobi.

Then, before respect were given to the man on a more personal level, one more man got to speak.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi was a good man. He always cared for my well-being, and for the well-being of the members of my clan. He was a man who held a poise that few could match. I could speak on why he was a great man, but everything that needed to be said has been said by those who knew him best. What I will say is this. Though it may be impossible for me to do so, I may only hope, as your Godaime Hokage, that I, Hiashi Hyuga, will prove to be as good and strong and as well respected as he was leading our village. Goodbye, Hokage-sama. May you help me lead our village to continued success."


	7. A Talk

"Now, everyone, tomorrow there will be an examination on your Henge no Jutsu, so I expect you to practice it tonight. Please remember to do the math problems I assigned. Class dismissed." Iruka spoke to his class as the end of the school day had arrived. Quickly, there was a mass exodus to the door at the back of the room. Soon, only five people were left. Choji was trying his best to move his best friend Shikamaru, as he was asleep. Ino found herself chatting with her new gal pal Hinata, the only real gal pal she could have, since she was the only one smart enough to not get in her way of making Sasuke fall in love with him. Hinata, of course, was staying behind until the fifth person, Naruto, left the room. He was walking towards the front, and directly to Iruka.

Iruka noticed the approaching Uzumaki and turned towards him. "Is something wrong, Naruto?" He asked, concerned for the boy.

Naruto shook his head. "No, Iruka-sensei. I just- I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Iruka raised an eyebrow. "What for?"

Naruto looked away slightly, obviously uncomfortable. "Uhh, you know. For skipping class for a few days last week. I mean, I know I skip class sometimes, but I usually come to class for a little bit. And I didn't. So I wanted to say sorry."

Iruka listened to his explanation, and relaxed. A gentle smile graced his face. "It's alright Naruto. I get it."

Naruto looked up. "Really?"

Iruka nodded. "I know how much it hurts… to lose someone you care about a lot. And I know that you cared for the Hokage a lot. I remember hearing you even call him "Jiji" once or twice. So I know that other things on your mind, and school is near the end of the list. But you're here now, and you plan on staying here, right?"

Naruto nodded. "Of course, Iruka-sensei! I can't be a ninja if I don't pass the academy, and I can't become Hokage if I don't become a ninja."

Iruka smiled. "Good to hear. Now get going, I think Hinata and Ino are waiting for you."

Naruto turned back to see an anxious Hinata and Ino tapping her foot, Choji having successfully dragged Shikamaru out of the room.

He nodded to his sensei. "Hai. And…thanks, Iruka-sensei." He turned and made his way to the two girls, already on their way of leaving the room.

Iruka nodded back. "Anytime, Naruto." He watched him leave and just as he disappeared out of the doorway, he called out, "And please do your math homework!" Satisifed with the moan bellowing from the orange-wearing blonde, Iruka decided to look into the folder that had reached his desk. It was about the tougher standards that the Hyuga Hokage was putting into order for the academy students. Iruka, having already leafed through it, was actually pleased by it. Higher standards meant better ninjas, and better ninjas meant fewer lives lost. And hopefully, in his class, he had the best ninja for the villages future.

…

The three walked from their classroom to the Academy's front doors, with Ino talking to Hinata and Naruto half-listening to the conversation.

"I have to say, Hinata, I am worrying about Sasuke-kun. Ever since the funeral, he has been acting weird. I mean, normally he is so dark and mysterious, but now he is paranoid. I mean, I've seen his look around his clan compound and look… scared. Like the buildings were going to run away. I don't know what is up with him."

Naruto let out a grunt. "Come on, Ino. I don't think Hinata-chan cares about if Sasuke is more emo or whatever."

Ino stuck her tongue out at the blonde. "Well, I didn't ask what you thought, Fishcake." Naruto grimaced as Ino made fun of his name. It was for maelstrom, not a fishcake, dammit! "And if Hinata didn't want to listen, she could say so herself. Right, Hinata?"

Hinata was put on the spot between her first non-Hyuga female friend and her crush, so she had no idea what to say. Her only choice was the diplomatic one.  
"N-Naruto-kun, it's ok. I-Ino is worried. I would b-be worried to if someone I cared ab-bout was acting strange."

Naruto sighed and nodded as they entered the natural light of the outside world. Standing there waiting for them were the two pick-ups for the girls, Inoichi Yamanaka and Ko Hyuga. Ino walked to her father first.

"Hi, daddy!" She greeted him, giving him a hug. She then turned to her friends. "See you guys later!" She waved them goodbye as her father led her home. The two waved goodbye back, as they turned to Ko.

"We must hurry back, Hinata-sama. Shizune-chan is waiting at the premises for your medical training, and she has a limited amount of time before she leaves with Tsunade-sama. She was rather early today, and Hoshi-sama did not appreciate my having to attend to her during the wait." Ko explained to the heiress.

Hinata was surprised. "You h-had to wait for her, Ko-kun? W-why not a br-branch member instead?"

Ko's face reddened slightly, and simply grabbed the wrist of Hinata. "Never mind that now, Hinata-sama. We must be leaving."

Naruto waved to Hinata as she was being whisked away. "See you later, Hinata-chan! Hope your training goes well!"

Hinata waved back with her free hand. "Bye Naruto-kun."

Suddenly, Ko paused, and turned away to look at Naruto. "Oh yes, before I forget, Lord Hokage-sama has asked for you to attend his office at once. He said he had important things to discuss."

Naruto grinned. "Awesome! My request went through!"

Ko raised an eyebrow, but didn't say a word. Instead, he re-upped the grip on Hinata's wrist, slackened by his remembering the message, and led her to the compound. "Good day, Uzumaki-san."

Naruto simply nodded. "Thanks for giving me the message, Hyuga-san. Have a good time, Hinata-chan."

Naruto failed to hear her response as she was being led quickly home, but assumed she wished him good luck with dealing with her father, the new Hokage.

As he walked his way to the tower, he couldn't help but think about the public's reaction to him being revealed as Hokage. Most people didn't like it. They had wanted one of the Sannin, but instead got a "proper, snobbish, elitist" Hyuga. He didn't know why he had such a bad reputation. He raised Hinata, and she was pretty awesome. He couldn't be that bad!

Then again, he may be one of the people in her family to think Hinata was weak. But Naruto was confident training with that Shizune woman would prove to everyone she was awesome. If only he could get that Ero-Sannin, a name he finally settled on to call him, to train him, he would be great in no time. But he wouldn't train him until he told him why he wanted to be Hokage, and "get it right." He already told him, to gain respect, how was that not a good enough reason? Reaching the Hokage tower finally, he was quickly let up and met up with Suzuki. He was happy to see the familiar face.

"Hey, Suzuki-san!" He happily greeted her.

She looked up and nodded to him. "Hello, Naruto. Are you hear to see the Godaime?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, he said it was urgent."

Suzuki nodded, knowing already the reason for the conversation. "Quite. Well, the Hokage is free now, so you can go up and see him."

He nodded, waving to her as he bound up the stairs and into the already open office door of Hiashi Hyuga. The door was closed behind him, as a member of ANBU left the room. Naruto saw he was now alone in the room with his new Hokage.

…

"Please, Naruto-san, take a seat." Hiashi was sitting peacefully behind his desk, a small stack of papers on either side of him. He wore the traditional robes of the Hokage position, but the hat was currently hanging on a hat rack behind him. Naruto felt odd in the new Hokage's office in general, because it seemed more sterilized and emptier. He quickly sat down in the chair Hiashi mentioned. It was the same chair he had been sitting in when he talked with the Hokage for years. That gave him some comfort.

Remembering that he needed to be formal with him, he bowed in his seat. "Thank you, Hiashi-sama, for meeting me on such short notice."

Hiashi ignored his not calling him Hokage and instead reached for a file on the top of the stack of papers to his left. "Well, I had been meaning to talk to you in the first place, but I have not been able to schedule time to do so do to all of my duties. Your request to see me allowed me to shuffle around a few things, and open up some time for this meeting."

Naruto didn't really get all about him having to shuffle and open stuff up, but was much more interested in the first thing he said. "You've… been wanting to talk to me?"

Hiashi gave him a quick nod. "Yes. There are multiple things that you and I need to discuss, things that have compounded since I have become Hokage."

Naruto was worried. "Like what, sir?" Naruto felt odd being so formal.

"Among other things, your companionship with my eldest daughter, Hinata. But that can wait a minute. Instead, how about we discuss why you wanted this meeting. You failed to explain on your request form."

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "I didn't? Oops. Sorry about that. I musta got so excited thinking about it, I forgot to write it down."

"Write what down?" Hiashi moved a centimeter closer to the edge of his seat, a proper moment due to the level of tension.

"Well Hiashi-sama," Naruto began to explain, "I figured out, well actually, Hinata figured out that I have a kekkei genkai."

Hiashi's eyes widened slightly. "A kekkei genkai? What led you to such a drastic assumption?"

Naruto assumed that meant, 'Why do you think that?' and answered accordingly. "Well, Hinata had given me her healing cream to deal with some cuts on my hands, and she told me how effective it was, that it helped cuts heal in a few hours and stuff. But I didn't think that was so good, since I heal cuts in like a hour, probably a lot less. We talked a bit more, and I told her about a time that I went to the medics with a broken arm at lunch time and I was completely healed by the time I went to bed. She told me it took like a week normally for a person to recover from breaking a bone. And also I realized that I never get sick, that whenever some big flu big or something comes into town, I always stay healthy. So me and Hinata figured, I have some type of kekkei genkai that gives me healing powers and, what did she call it… oh yeah! That I have an super immune system. That counts as a kekkei genkai, right?"

Naruto finished his long explanation, and watched as the new Hokage digested in the information. It was obvious he was thinking, and thinking hard. Suddenly, a more relaxed look spread across his face. With grace that only comes from keeping your composure for over thirty years, he stood up and made his way to the windows behind him. He looked out of the window as he spoke. "That is not a kekkei genkai."

Naruto's facial expression dropped. "What'd ya mean that isn't a kekkei genkai?"

The Hokage looked to the young boy. "A kekkei genkai is passed on by blood, through one's genetics, like my families Byakugan. This is why, until very recently, a strict system was put into place in order to protect my clan's precious kekkei genkai."

"Recently?" Naruto asked, wondering what he was talking about.

Hiashi continued. "Hai. The Daimyo found it…oppressive and did not think a Hokage should come from a clan that supports it. A decision my clan did not like, but for the sake of Konoha accepted his views." Hiashi let the silence end the conversation, while Naruto contemplated what he could have meant.

Naruto decided not to question him on the matter, and decided to go back to their earlier topic. "What did you mean my healing isn't a kekkei genkai?"

Hiashi returned his gaze out of the window. "As I said, a kekkei genkai is passed through blood, through genetics. Your abilities… your healing… are not natural."

Naruto began to fidget in his chair. "What do you mean, not natural?"

Hiashi looked toward the Hokage monument, more specifically the head of the fourth. "Your abilities were a result of an event on the day of your birth."

Naruto stopped fidgetingly completely. "W-what do you mean, event on the day of my birth. The only thing that happened was-"

"-the Kyuubi no Yoko assault on our village, yes. Your healing is related to this."

"How?" Those were the only words Naruto could think of.

Hiashi let out a sigh, and returned to the desk. Taking his seat, he looked at the extremely nervous boy. "On the day of your birth, the Sandaime made a decree. A decree that outlawed any mention of how exactly the Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi to the younger generation. A decree punishable by death. A decree only two people in the world can break." Naruto had moved to the edge of his seat fully. "You and I."

Naruto flopped back in the seat. "How come, You and I?" He had trouble articulating words at the moment, the suspension getting to him so.

This was not the case for Hiashi. "Are exempt from this rule? I am the Hokage, and may bypass any decree made by his predecessors. And you? Because it is because of you the Kyuubi was defeated."

"B-but I was just a baby! How could I help beat the Kyuubi?" Naruto was tired of this emotional rollercoaster, and just wanted it to reach the end.

Hiashi acquiesced. "Because in order to seal the beast away so it could no longer wreak havoc on Konoha, a baby was needed. More precisely, a newborn baby. You. The Yondaime, using a seal that gave his soul to Shinigami, sealed the mighty Kyuubi into you, deeming you as the protector of Konoha from its fury."

Naruto was frozen. The shock has hit him hard, and he found himself unable to articulate any thoughts, as the realization was pounded through his head. The reason for the villager's dislike of him. He had the Kyuubi, which destroyed Konoha nearly ten years beforehand, inside of him.

Hiashi took note of Naruto's shock, and continued explaining things. "The seal the Yondaime used allows the Kyuubi's charka to slowly leak into your charka pathways, slowly being converted into your own personal charka. The Kyuubi's charka in your system gives you the healing properties that you enjoy. The leaked charka is also increasing reserves. A cursory glance at your charka levels put them in the high chunin range, a level most shinobi don't reach without serious effort until they are fifteen years old at the minimum."

Naruto heard what he said and understood what he meant, but he was still more focused on the Kyuubi stuck inside of him. Eventually, he managed to say something. "How come… why was it me?"

"I often wondered this as well, and never thought I would hear the answer why you, an orphan, was chosen. However, having read through some of the documents Sarutobi left, I found out why. As they explained, your mother was an Uzumaki refugee who made her way to Konoha. The Uzumaki clan and Konoha have always had good relations, so she must have decided that it was in her best interest to move here." Hiashi was telling him when he was interrupted

"Clan? Refugee? What are you talking about?" Naruto was confused by this information. There was an Uzumaki clan?

"Yes, there was an Uzumaki clan, a family that separated from the Senju clan over three hundred years ago. It was known for their incredible vitality and naturally large charka reserves and created the strongest sealmasters known in all the shinobi world. The fear of those sealmasters caused the clan and their homeplace to be attacked and destroyed during the Second Shinobi World War. Few Uzumaki survived, including your mother, who made her home in Konoha."

Naruto eyes went wide. "I was part of a clan! How come the old man never told me about it."

"I do not know. Possibly he didn't think you were ready for such information, like why he kept the information about the Kyuubi from you. Or he didn't want to get your hopes up of having family somewhere, only to find you have none." Hiashi explained.

Naruto thought about what he said, and realized he was right. If he had known back in the orphanage he was part of a clan, he would have been waiting for one of his fellow clan members to save him from the unfriendly caretakers, and them never coming would have depressed him immensely, and made him act more like Sasuke.

"What about my mom? What did she look like? What was her name? What about my dad?"

"Your mother is described as a tall beautiful redheard with long hair. Her name is listed as being Shina Uzumaki, but her first name is described as what she was called, not her official first name. Your father is not listed on your official birth certificate, however. However, it is noted that it was withheld for private reasons. I have not found in the archives who he is." Hiashi lied, as he continued to tell as much as he could without revealing too much senseitive information. Kumogakure would be enough of a problem, no reason to invite a tag-teaming from the north.

"From what I understand, the Yondaime was searching for a baby to be used in the sealing, and your mother let him use you. She knew that it had to be done, and it was to protect her and your home. She planned on raising you, but due to unforeseen circumstances, she passed away. I do not know what happened with your father." Hiashi finished, and waited to hear what the blonde thought.

Shina. His mother's name was Shina. She had wanted him. Even if he had no idea about his father, he found out about his mother. Naruto covered his face with his friends and bent over, trying to hide the tears that were pouring out of him. He had often wondered about the fate of his parents, and the one he feared, the one that the village's dislike for him, was that they had simply abandoned him and were actually in the village. But at least his mother had definitely wanted him.

"Thank you." Hiashi suddenly heard Naruto's muffled voice from behind his hands. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." Naruo removed his hands, and used them to wipe away his tears.

Hiashi waited for him to regain control his emotions and nodded. "You're welcome."

Naruto sniffled and gave him a smile. The smile soon faded away. "So, what do I do about the Kyuubi inside of me?"

Hiashi shrugged. "Should it really change anything?"

Naruto stopped and thought about it. Hiashi did say that only he and him could tell people, so people his age would never find out. "I guess not."

Hiashi nodded. "Correct, it won't change anything. Now, with that dealt with, let us talk about what I wanted to discuss. The first topic has been already explained, so let us get to the one that is much more important to me. Your companionship with my eldest daughter, Hinata."

"What about it?' Naruto was suddenly on the defensive.

Hiashi saw this and calmed him immediately. "You do not need to worry. I have no issue with you being friends with my daughter. In fact, I approve of it. Since she has begun her friendship with you, she has shown more confidence and an improvement in her Gentle Fist technique. She has also found herself a worthy sensei in another fields, even if it were a field I did not necessarily approve of her studying."

"Then what do we need to talk about?" He asked the man.

"It was more…of a request. Traditionally in the Hyuga clan, the heiress has a protector from the branch family. However, due to the new rejoining of the families, and her now former protector better suited as focusing on being a shinobi, Hinata finds herself without one. I wanted to request that you take up that role as her protector. You have already become close to her, so I thought this would not be a hard task for you to fufill."

"Are you saying Hinata's weak? Why does she need a protector? She is plenty strong by herself." Naruto defended his friend.

"That is not what I said. As heiress, and now daughter of the Hokage, she is an easy target for enemies of Konoha. No matter how strong she may or may not be, she still needs protection."

"You mean someone would try and kidnap her?"

"They already have in the past."

Naruto's eyes went wide. "You mean someone tried to kidnap her! Who!"

"Kumogakure. We had forced them into signing a peace treaty after a conflict erupted soon after the Kyuubi's attack. However, there signing was a ploy to try and kidnap my daughter. They thought they could take her and create their own Hyuga clan, starting from her. However, the kidnapper was neutralized, and the issue was…dealt with." Hiashi hated thinking about his brother's passing, and how he saved his life from being sacrificed to placate those damned Lightning ninja. Then again, his willingness to sacrifice his life for Konoha's peace was a leading cause in the Daimyo's selection of him as Hokage.

"So she needs someone to make sure that won't ever happen again?" Hiashi nodded. "I can do that. I'll make sure to protect her!"

Hiashi let himself smile somewhat. "That is good to here. And you can consider it practice."

"Practice? What do you mean?"

"Everyone has heard of your dreams, to become Hokage. And a Hokage must protect everyone in the village, even if it must be with their life. Your protecting my daughter can be your first step." He casually explained to Naruto.

Naruto had a sudden epiphany when Hiashi said that. He knew what to tell Ero-Sannin! His eyes widened. Then, he looked back at Hiashi. "I will. I will protect your daughter, then I will take your seat and protect everyone in the village!"

Hiashi simply nodded to the outburst. "Good to hear that you are at least confident. Since you have accepted this duty, you will be moving-"

"Moving?" Naruto interrupted him.

Hiashi showed his displeasure, but didn't comment on it. "Yes. You will move to an apartment complex next to the Hyuga compound. It will be easier for you to act as her protector if you live nearby. Does this change your mind?"

Naruto shook his head. "No, I was just surprised. Sorry."

"As I said, you will be moving to the apartment complex. You will also be given a personal tutor, a respected special jounin named Eb-" Again, Naruto cut him off.

"There is no need for that. I'm going to get Ero-Sannin to train me."

"Ero-Sannin?" The annoyance of Naruto's rudeness was overshadowed by the curiousity of whom he meant.

"The Sannin Jiraiya. I call him Ero-Sannin since he is a pervert and is a Sannin. He is going to train me since I can answer his question."

"What question?" Hiashi asked, a quick glance to the far wall going unnoticed by Naruto.

"He asked me why I wanted to be Hokage. I told him so that everyone would respect me, but he said that wasn't good enough. But something you said made me realize the right reason. That you want to protect everyone in the village. That is why you should want to be Hokage."

Hiashi simply nodded. "I would say that is a good answer. How about you go and find him? The sooner you talk to him, the earlier your training can begin."

Naruto nodded. "Alright. I'll go find him." He stood up, and made his way to the door. "Thank you for meeting with me Hiashi-sama." He opened the door and walked out the door. Before closing it, however, he popped his head in one least time. "And for everything else."

"You're welcome, Naruto-san." Hiashi responded, and watched Naruto close the door. He turned to the far wall he glanced at. "Was that the correct answer?"

Dispelling the genjutsu surrounding, Jiraiya appeared at. "Actually it is. I didn't think I would have to get around to training him for a couple of years. There isn't much I can show him before I leave in a few days with Tsunade-hime and her assistant."

Hiashi just gave him a look. "You will have time with your frequent visits to keep me up to date with your network. I won't accept that my village's spymaster doesn't at least keep in touch with the village. Especially if he is suppose to training his grandson."

"Your records show that to, huh? I like the little fibs you told him about his parents, enough so he is happy, but won't figure it out by accident."

Hiashi simply turned away. "I did what I thought was best. I can understand why Sarutobi left him in the dark initially, but the boy is obviously old enough to handle the information. Though there is some information he isn't ready for"

Jiraiya simply nodded. "He handled the Kyuubi information quite well. Much better than I expected. He might be fun to teach."

"Out of interest for my daughter's sake, what will you be teaching him?" Hiashi asked the Sannin.

"A few things. Definitely toad summoning, and charka control exercises. With reserves that big that quickly, his control will be non-existent. Stealth training and maybe some offensive jutsu. The Rasengan, for sure, when he gets mature enough. Some basic sealing techniques too. I doubt he has the patience to fully learn the art, but a smokebomb seal or explosion tag are easy enough to teach."

"Sounds like quite a bit." Hiashi simply noted.

"The kid seems like he will force himself to learn things as quickly as possible, so it is good to have a broad number of things to teach." Jiraiya noted, leaping to the window seal. Crouched, ready to leap away, Jiraiya stopped himself. Turning to his leader, he gave an evil grin. "Maybe teach him a few things about girls. Your daughter already seems to have an interest in him, and it would be a shame for your plan of getting them together was ruined by his cluelessness." With that, he turned away from the Hokage and leapt away from the Hokage tower.

"Jiraiya!" Hiashi called out, a small loss of composure. Realizing the futility of such an action, he reeled himself in. He knew there was no such plan, he just thought a strong jinchuriki with a good heritage would be a good protector for his daughter. Even if she already had a baffling crush on him. Nothing sinister in that.

Hiashi sighed, deciding to begin working on the paperwork that was on his desk. It was one of the things he needed to look into, reducing paperwork, the same job every Hokage had ever looked into. The change was futile. However, a lot of other changes were coming to Konoha and the shinobi world thanks to the new Hokage.

…..

And scene. This is the end of the first arc of Lost Idol, the death and election of a new Hokage. The next chapter will come after a time skip that leads about two months before where canon begins. In those next few chapters, major changes will be seen in both teams and who is where. Two major surprises in the next two chapters, I hope you will like them.

Explanation 1: Hoshi Hyuga is the current leader of the Hyuga clan. Hoshi is Hiashi's father. He retook the role after his son's ascension to Hokage.

Explanation 2: If you didn't understand, the practice of the Cursed Seal was ended as a quid pro quo in order for Hiashi to get chosen.

End note: To those who have also read my recent posting Second Chance, WOW! I mean seriously. Check the numbers for that for a moment, will you? A short post under 1500 words, in less than a week, has just under a thousand views, nearly 30 reviews, 40 favorites and 70 follows! That is insane. I just wanted to recognize these insane numbers, as I'm not updating until after THHH gets an update, which might take a while.

Please, drop a review on what you think, and what I could do better, and what I have done well

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine. This plot totally is.


	8. Spar Day

I said two surprises, but I forgot to count two of my plot points as so, so know there is four, three revealed this chapter. I hope you like my deviations from canon, all of them fairly unique. Remember review to tell me what you think about them. I hope you love it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

…..

With a loud yawn, Naruto Uzumaki rolled out of his bed and began his day. He made his way to the bathroom, grabbing a towel from the small linen closet his flat offered, and made his way in. He quickly brushed his teeth and relieved himself. He then took a shower, making sure that his spiky blonde hair wasn't too much of a mess, so Hinata's grandfather didn't yell at him for being one. Finishing up in the shower, he toweled himself and went back to his bedroom. He quickly put on a pair of boxers and a pair of black pants with orange stripes running down the side of his legs. He threw on a white undershirt, and put on his orange jacket with the Uzumaki swirl on the back of it, zipping it up most of the way. Slipping on his sandals, he went into his kitchen. He went into his instant cup cupboard and found a cup of chicken ramen. Setting everything up, he grabbed an apple to eat during the three minutes he had to wait. He had to have a more balanced diet, Hokage's orders, so this was how he dealt with it. The ramen finally being done, he checked the milk carton he pulled out of his fridge for being sour. Realizing it was okay, he went on with eating his breakfast, calling out the customary "Itadakimasu!" beforehand. Checking the time once he was finished, he left his flat and made his way around the Hyuga Compound walls to the front gate. Waiting there was a smiling Hinata and obviously irritated Hanabi Hyuga. Hinata was wearing her thin lavender jacket, without a hood and had her hair coming down to her shoulders. Hanabi just wore a training outfit, seeing no point in dressing up for the academy, and had her hair long, past her armpits.

"Hey Hinata-chan. Hi, Hanabi." Naruto greeted the two warmly.

Hinata waved to him. "Hello, Naruto-kun. How are you this morning?"

Hanabi mumbled through closed lips. "Naruto."

Naruto smiled. "Good. What's wrong with Hanabi?" He pointed to the little Hyuga.

Hinata sighed. "She is mad because father isn't letting her skip ahead to the next year of the academy early. I've been trying to tell her that she shouldn't rush it, but she doesn't listen."

Hanabi huffed. "I'm not rushing it! I'm better than everyone in my class. Why can't I skip?"

Naruto smirked "That isn't what I heard. Konohamaru told me that he beat you yesterday in a spar."

Hanabi frowned slightly. "He got lucky! I mean, I didn't expect him to turn into a naked girl! I was surprised."

Naruto just patted her on the head. "Surprise is key for a ninja. You learn to expect the unexpected. That's why I taught it to him in the first place." He looked up, and immediately had a bad feeling. He turned to look at Hinata, and saw her glaring, which was never a good sign.

"Uh, yeah, Hinata-chan? What's wrong?"

"You taught Konohamaru-sama that perverted jutsu, didn't you?" Hinata asked him in a tone that put him on edge.

Naruto nervously chuckled. "Umm, noooo. I just taught him how to perform a Henge. How he uses it is his idea."

Hinata gave him an offsetting smile. "It's okay, I understand, Naruto-kun. But if you don't talk to him about using the Henge properly, I will have to talk to Arashi-san about this."

Naruto shivered. He did not want to talk to Konohamaru's father, especially about this. And if Konohamaru told about why he wanted to learn the jutsu, to beat his perverted father (who took up his father's habit of reading Icha Icha for the same reasons as his father), it would end badly for him. He nodded to her. "Okay, Hinata-chan. I'll talk to Konohamaru before school today."

Hinata gave him a real smile. "Good. Then let's go to the Academy."

Naruto and Hanabi (resentfully) nodded in agreement, as Naruto led the way. As usual, they talked about things of interest to them.

"So, Hinata-chan, is it true that your teacher is moving to Konoha fulltime?" Naruto asked, hands behind his head as he walked.

Hinata nodded. "Hai, she says that after 13 years of traveling with Tsunade-sama, she wanted to come home."

Hanabi gave a light giggle." More like come home to Ko-san."

Hinata grew red and stumbled slightly, while Naruto smirked. "H-Hanabi!"

"What?" Hanabi asked. "You know it is true. Ko-san is interested in Shizune-sama, and she is interested in him."

"Th-that doesn't matter. "Hinata stuttered, weirded out by the idea of her Hyuga watcher and sensei being a couple. "One shouldn't gossip about other's personal lives."

Hanabi gave a fake frown. "So I shouldn't gossip about the Naruto doll that you practice ki-" Her mouth was soon covered by Hinata's hand. Hinata was blushing terribly, embarrassed that her evil little sister nearly told Naruto about that. To Naruto's credit, he only kept up his smirk. None of this was new to him.

"Hanabi, stop teasing your big sister. You know that, in a full spar, she could turn you into a porcupine." Naruto cheekily told her.

Hanabi gave a real frown. "Well, a good Hyuga needs nothing more in combat than Jyuuken. And I can beat her with in a Jyuuken spar."

Looking over, Naruto saw Hinata's depressed frown. "Well, Firecracker," He was using the rarely used but greatly hated nickname for her, "a good Hyuga also does not lose. As I see it, it doesn't matter if you might be better with Jyuuken. In a real fight, Hinata would win, easily. She even would have a chance against Neji-teme."

Hinata frowned. "Don't say that, Naruto. He is already a chunin, and I'm still in the academy…"

Naruto stopped and gave her a warm smile. "You could be a chunin too, no problem. You are an awesome healer and fighter. Neji-teme is only a chunin 'cause your dad pushed him so much, letting him graduate two years early and everything. If he had let you graduate two years early, you'd be a chunin too. I know it."

Hinata blushed under the praise and gave a small smile. "Do you really think so?"

Naruto nodded. "Believe it."

Hinata gave him a full smile, and gave him a quick hug, saying "Thank you" during the few seconds her arms were wrapped around him. She quickly turned away too, not wanting him to see how much she was blushing.

Naruto just gave a small blush as well and told her, "Anytime, Hinata-chan."

Hanabi gave a huff. "Can nee-chan and her boyfriend please hurry up? I don't want to be late."

Two embarrassed twelve years old and a few denials later, the trio reached the Academy. Naruto made a pitstop in Hanabi's classroom to have a talk with Konohamaru, and followed Hinata into their regular classroom. While Naruto took the aisle seat, Hinata took the middle seat and the regular person in the window seat was already sitting there.

"Hey, Hinata-sama, Naruto." He gave them a toothy grin.

Hinata let out a sigh as she sat down. "I told you, Suigetsu-kun, you don't have to call me that. Just Hinata is alright."

He shrugged. "You've been telling me for months, and it still hasn't worked, Hinata-sama."

Naruto knew why Suigetsu was so respectful to Hinata, and he didn't blame him. The bloodline wars in Kirigakure had escalated at one point, so much so that even simple clans with special clan only jutsu's at one point were condemned. Suigetsu lost his brother, during this time (but not due to the war) and had been forced to leave Kiri for some time. The traitor Orochimaru showed interest in him, and had tried to capture him. He would have succeeded, if he did not run into Kakashi Hatake Ninja who had been on the mission to try and convince the bloodlined or clanned refugees come to Konoha. There had not been much success until Suigetsu came along. Orochimaru backed off, and Suigetsu had been given a home. Saving him from the snake bastard and giving him a new home to where he could begin his quest of collecting the Seven Swords had made him eternally grateful to both Kakashi and Hiashi and, by extension, his daughter.

"Hey, Suigetsu, where did you get this sword? It looks a lot different from the one you normally have." Naruto asked, noticing the much wider sword on his back.

"Oh this?" Suigetsu carefully pulled it out and held it up in the air. It was a long blade, from its hilt Naruto guessed it was nearly 90cm. It was almost 15 cm wide. The blade itself was thick in the middle and sharp on both sides, and made of a black steel. It's base seemed to be very simplistic, just a long handle covered in black wrappings, enough for two hands, "This is the sword I had commissioned. I had it made to be my weapon until I acquire the first of the Seven Swords. It is durable, deadly, and looks really cool. It can even be chakra-imbued, which makes it all the more dangerous. Almost no one will be able to beat me with this, not even most of the jokes who hold the Swords today." He did not mention the three people he thought could beat him, though Naruto and Hinata had been around him long enough to know who they were. Hayate, a jounin of Konoha could still beat him. And two of the Seven Swordsman, the worthy swordsman in Suigetsu's eyes, Kiri's missing nins Zabuza Momochi and Kisame Hoshigaki.

It was around this time Iruka made his way into the classroom. He immediately sighed. "Suigetsu, put away the sword. There is no reason for it to be out in class."

Suigetsu frowned, but shrugged. He put in back on his back in the unique holster, which was sheathless except for a small part that kept the hilt and handle from simply falling through.

"Whatever sensei."

Iruka nodded to him, and looked to the other distraction. "And Ino, Sakura, please get into your seats. And no, Sasuke's lap or the front of his deskspace does not count." Two huffs were heard, and pushing commenced on who got the seat directly next to Sasuke. Ino won that day, so Sakura took the edge. With a nod Iruka began his lessons for the day.

…

It was time for taijutsu practice for the day, so Iruka's class lined the sides of the sparring arena. As 'seniors', they were given a lot of room for their spars, beyond a mere circle. At one end, Naruto and Hinata talked with one another, waiting for their turn to spar. Behind them, against the fence, was Shikamaru, already being able to lie around as he had his spar for the day (he had won. It was just simpler with his mother if he won.). Chouji was eating a bag of chips next to him, standing and towering over his Nara friend. To their right were Suigetsu and Sasuke. They had an odd companionship, as Suigetsu was the only one who could get him to talk on a regular basis. No one knew how that worked, but it did. And hanging around Sasuke was Ino and Sakura, hearts in their eyes. Other girls were lurking, but Suigetsu's sword and looks fromIno and Sakura gave kept them afar.

"Alright, Kiba Inuzuka vs. Sakura Haruno. Come into the arena." Iruka called out. Sakura grunted, trudging out as she would have to challenge the dangerous Inuzuka. Kiba had the third best taijutsu skills in his class, and she…didn't.

"Wish me luck, Sasuke-kun?" She asked, hoping he would say something.

Sasuke ignored her, but Suigetsu gave him a slight elbow. Sasuke shot a look at him, but Suigetsu just nodded his head towards Sakura. With a grunt Sasuke nodded to her. "I wish you luck, Sakura."

With a squeal, Sakura grinned. "Thank you, Sasuke-kun." She forcibly gave him a hug, and went into the circle. Naruto, who had been watching, laughed. Sasuke turned his glare to Naruto, but he ignored it. Instead, he turned to Suigetsu.

"How come you always do that? Get Sasuke to acknowledge his fangirls?"

Suigetsu gave a toothy grin, and patted Sasuke on his shoulder. "Well, he is focusing on killing a certain man. I'm making sure he doesn't forget about restoring his clan." Ino blushed under the thought, and Sasuke did because of the tone Suigetsu used. Taking a look at Ino, he smiled. "Then again, I might have to restore my clan as well."

Ino saw how he was looking at him and hit him on the head, water splashing on her. "Grrr. Pervert!" She checked to make sure how top wasn't too wet, and was satisfied. "Why would I want to be with a waterboy?"

"Because, Ino-chan, I can change any part of my body to any size. Any part to any size. " He emphasized the last part. Ino blushed, and then kicked him, again getting splashed. "Pervert!"

Naruto turned to Hinata who was blushing, and had an evil grin on his face. He whispered in her eye. "You know, I bet Ero-sennin wished he could do the same thing. I wish I could."

Hinata froze, and slowly became a deep red. Naruto caught her as she fell, and gently laid her on the ground. He watched her in her unconscious state, only to be interrupted by a blow to the back of his head. He turned to see Ino, fist where his head had been. "You're a pervert too, Naruto! You know Hinata-chan is really modest!"

He just smirked. "What? I just said it would be cool to have Suigetsu clan jutsu. It is really helpful in taijutsu."

Ino narrowed her eyes. "Sasuke-kun, please tell Naruto-baka not to do that!"

Sasuke let out a grunt. "Why should I care what the dobe does? And if it involves humiliating a Hyuga, why would I disapprove?"

Naruto shot out a glare. "I don't see why you hate the Hyuga's so much, teme. Hinata is really awesome and the rest of her family is alright as long as the stick is out of their ass."

Sasuke just let out a 'Hn.' "Leave it to the dobe to not understand."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "What? You still think there is a conspiracy or something? Hiashi-sama isn't out to get you."

Sasuke glared at Naruto. "Then how come he made me sell half of my clan's compound grounds? Or why didn't let me graduate early, like I should have?" This was a sensitive topic for Sasuke, one he would talk a lot about.

"Winner, Kiba Inuzuka!" The five still conscious turned to see what had happened. It looked like Kiba had gotten a broken noise, but Sakura had been beat up a fair amount and was obviously winded and in pain. She hobbled her way over to the group. Suigetsu elbowed Sasuke again, who simply sighed. "Are you alright, Saukra?" He begrudgingly asked, a sharp tone still in his voice.

Sakura didn't notice the tone and just heard him ask the question. She straightened up immediately, ignoring the pain, and nodded. "I'm alright, Sasuke-kun. Did you see how I did? I think I broke his nose."

Sasuke just let a look linger on her, as he gave a short nod to her. She gave him a big smile and returned to his side. He just returned to brooding to himself, until Iruka called out his next match. "Sasuke Uchiha vs. Choji Akimichi." With that, he slowly made his way to the starting position, Choji following him as he put the bag of chips in his pocket. Ino and Sakura began to loudly cheer for Sasuke. Naruto rolled his eyes, when he heard a noise. Looking down, he saw Hinata was gaining consciousness. Slowly flickering her eyes open, she realized quickly her position. Blushing again, she sat up fully and stood up under her own power. Brushing her self off, she shot a look at Naruto. "That wasn't funny."

Naruto gave an exaggerated shrug. "What are you talking about?" He asked in a very fake innocent tone.

"Winner, Sasuke Uchiha!" They both turned to the arena, and saw Sasuke standing victoriously over Choji. He had apparently taken him out quickly, before he expanded and could prove destructive.. Sound strategy, Naruto thought. Sasuke shuffled his way back to his standing position. He turned his attention back to Hinata, still wearing the look.

"What?' He asked in an innocent voice.

She sighed. "Just, please. I don't like fainting."

Naruto had a guilty look on his face. "Yeah, I understand. I promise not to talk about what I would do if I had Suigetsu's abilities."

Hinata began to blush, but was interrupted by Iruka's voice. "Next match, Naruto Uzumaki vs Hinata Hyuga." Hearing this, a smile came across her face. A smile that chilled Naruto's spine. He had a bad feeling he would painfully learn the saying, "Payback's a bitch."

…

Naruto and Hinata stood across from one another, while they listened to Iruka go over the rules.

"This is not a full combat spar, just a regular spar. This means only taijutsu and nintaijutsu techniques are allowed, meaning Hinata can use Jyuuken." Naruto let out a barely audible gulp. "Winning can occur in one of three ways. Verbal submission, knocking out your opponent, or my call. Do not argue with me if I call it, understand?" Both nodded. "Good, now make the sign of harmony." They both did so, and then relaxed into their fighting stances, Hinata in her Jyuuken and Naruto in the style he had developed, mixing in the Gama style (precursor to Frog Kata style) that his sensei used and the Academy style most knew. "And begin!"

The two paused for a moment, and began their attacks on one another. Hinata began to attack the limbs of Naruto with precise strikes learned by years of practice and throwing senbon. Naruto, having spent years trying to dodge those blows, was having success in doing so. However, the barrage didn't let him go on the offensive. So to fix that, he jumped back to put a temporary end to the barrage, and jumped back in with his fighting. He began to throw punches and kicks to her stomach and legs, avoiding everything above the ribcage for multiple reasons. Hinata gracefully jumped and weaved through his cacophony of blows so Naruto decided to mix it up. Throwing a sweep with his right leg, Hinata jumped back to dodge it. However, Naruto quickly stopped the sweep and in one fluid motion shot out his left boot sideways into Hinata's stomach. Connecting, Hinata fell onto her back. Knowing from past spars not to take her to easily when she was prone, Naruto charged her before she could stand. However, she jumped right back up and let Naruto pass her, making a passing jab at his exposed right side. Naruto soon felt the blow, and made a grab to it. "That hurt. I don't see how that is supposed to be gentle." He muttered to himself.

"There is more, if you are done talking to yourself." Naruto took a gulp at what Hinata said. He thought of this as Hyuga Hinata. Normally she was nice Hinata, awesome Hinata, or even cute Hinata. But then there was Hyuga Hinata, who was scary, as it was the way she conducted herself when she sparred, something she learned heavily from her training. It was the only "Hyuga" part of her, but it was effective.

Frowning, Naruto forced himself back into position and began to attack. He included aiming for the area underneath Hinata's neck in his assault this time. The wider range worked, as he managed to avoid her strikes and land a punch underneath her right shoulder. However, it had been with his right arm, giving Hinata ample opportunity to land a strike at his elbow before he could withdraw the cross-body punch. His arm stiffening, Naruto shook it out of his system. Resetting their position, they began their attacks again.

This time around, Naruto focused on disrupting Hinata's base with kicks and sweeps, leaving Hinata to dodge, jump, and weave Naruto's feet. She occasionally made lunges toward Naruto, but Naruto timed his jumps at the right times to avoid her lunges. During this exchange Naruto decided to make a surprise move. Hinata landed from jumping over a left sweep and was surprised by a punch in the face, causing her to flip over and land face first. Iruka saw Hinata's state, and went to raise her hand, but Naruto stopped him.

"Don't end it yet. She can get up."

Hinata heard the cheers from Ino, Suigetsu, and even Choji who had recovered from the beatdown he received, along with other classmates who were fond of her. Inspired by them, and Naruto's belief in herself, she managed to push herself off the ground and make it back to her feet. She rubbed her jaw sensitively, glaring at Naruto, but really happy. She hated how Naruto didn't go full out in spars, putting self-limitations on where he could hit her. She always thought it was because he didn't think she was his equal, even if he said it was so her father didn't punish him for beating up his daughter. But actually hitting her, to her, said she was being taken seriously. This in mind, she decided to go on the attack again, with much more intensity.

Naruto now had to work a lot harder to dodge, and was forced to block a few blows with the arm that had already been hit. This assault pressed on him, but he was outlasting Hinata at this point. He didn't just want to make it a battle to see who outlasted who, he would win everytime, so he decided he would go for a big move to try and end it legitimately. He sacrificed his right arm one more time, taking a Jyuuken strike near the wrist. Then, he quickly grabbed the arm used with his left arm and, in an awkward motion, flipped her. It was a full flip, but more of a flip over her side. Then, he took his foot to her throat, lightly placing it on. He flashed her a grin. "I win." Instead of a look of defeat from her however, there was a smile.

"No, I do." Was her response, as she quickly began to tap his leg on her throat with strikes, buckling his leg. He let go of her arm, and she quickly rolled away from his now kneeling form. Jumping up, she quickly mimed landing a blow at the base of his neck. She then turned to Iruka. "Iruka-sensei, had I hit him, he would have been knocked out or even dead."

Iruka nodded. "I agree. Winner, Hinata Hyuga!"

Hinata smiled because of her victory, then quickly became worried. She rushed to Naruto's side. "Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" She bent over, trying to see his face to determine his health. He looked up and playfully frowned.

"Dang it, you beat me. I'll win next time, believe it!" He then raised his left arm. "Ummm, I can't really use my leg. Can you help me…"

Hinata gave a slight blush and nodded. Naruto then wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and was lifted up. Using Hinata as a giant crutch, they made their way slowly to the sidelines.

"Next match, Ino Yamanaka vs. Shino Abrurame!" Iruka called out once the two left the field and made their way to the fence next to Shikamaru. Naruto had to sit down because of his lack of feeling in his leg, while Hinata sat down because Naruto was sitting down.

Suigetsu, Sasuke, and Sakura drifted towards them. Sasuke spoke first. "Hn. Didn't think you'd lose to a girl."

"What do you mean by that, Sasuke-kun?" Sakura may like him, or maybe even love him, but wouldn't stand sexist views from her precious Sasuke-kun.

Sasuke felt her anger and decided that, even though he could beat her in a fight, she hit really hard. "I mean, I thought you could beat a Hyuga. Guess you aren't so great."

Naruto growled. "Shut up, teme. I bet she could beat your butt too."

Sasuke actually let out half a laugh. "A Hyuga beat me? Impossible!"

Suigetsu cut in. "Hey, didn't that one Hyuga kick your butt a month ago? You said he was to near your dock, you tried to fight him, I had to save when once I finished replenishing my water supply." Sasuke winced at the memory while Naruto laughed.

"Hah! I guess the teme isn't so great after all."

"Naruto! Don't call Sasuke-kun a teme! And he is great! A lot greater than you!" She went to bop him on the head, but Hinata managed to stop her fist.

"Sakura, there is no need to hit Naruto. Would you like it if I hit Sasuke-san everytime he called Naruto-kun a dobe or that he would never be Hokage?" Hinata wisely said, making Sakura frown, forcing her to reflect on her opinions.

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome. Why can't you guys leave me be? It was so nice and peaceful before."

Suigetsu gave an evil grin. "Oh no? What is that? Is that, rain?" With that, he dematerialized his hand and let a splash of water hit Shikamaru, startling him up. He shot a glare at the offender. "Troublesome. I'm moving." He got up and began to walk away, Choji following him.

Suigetsu was laughing, when suddenly he felt himself moving. He didn't know what was doing. He suddenly reached out and grabbed Sakura's breasts. Everyone in the circle stopped as they saw this. No one noticed Shikamaru cancel his jutsu and walk away, Choji chiding his friend.

"SUIGETSU!" Immediately, Suigetsu began to flee, and Sakura was flinging kunai and shuriken out of her holster, ignoring her injuries.

"I'm so going to cut you up, Nara!" He yelled as Iruka tried to get the matter under control. Ino and Shino had stopped fighting, because of Ino laughing at Suigetsu's predicament.

Later that day:

"You run like a bitch." Naruto bluntly stated after class ended that day. He was walking with Hinata and Suigetsu, blindly going around town.

Suigetsu huffed. "Whatever. You'd run to evil super-Sakura was chasing you. Man, I'm gonna cut Nara into like fifty pieces. That was not cool."

Hinata tried to calm down the situation. "Ano, you did dump water on him."

"There is a difference in getting someone a little bit wet and nearly getting them killed." He bitterly commented.

Hinata frowned, trying to think how to settle the situation. "Shikamaru-kun would just put you in the Kagemane Jutsu again. There is no point in trying to attack him."

Naruto simply nodded. "Yeah, and next time he might make you do something a lot worse. Maybe walk into the girls side of the hot spring. Or try and grab Ino's breast's this time."

Suigetsu began to ponder that. "Hmmm. That first one would suck, but the second one would be really nice." He began to look far away, blood slowly dripping from his nose.

Hinata blushed and shot a look at Naruto. He just shrugged. "I didn't mean for him to daydream." He whispered in her ear.

Hinata studied Naruto, and then decided to deal with Suigetsu. A Jyuuken blast to the rib later, something he couldn't just escape by liquefying, knocked him out of his day dreams and taught him a lesson.

"Sheesh, you're just like Ero-Sennin, Suigetsu." Naruto complained.

"When is he coming back to train you again, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, wondering the fate of her best friend's/ protector's/ boy she liked sensei.

Naruto just shrugged. "No clue. Your dad did say he should be back soon. I can't wait. I finished the first step of this jutsu he is teaching me, you know about that Hinata-chan, and I just have to wait until he comes back to find out about the second step."

"What was the first step?" Suigetsu asked out of curiousity.

"Popping a water balloon." Naruto said in a bored tone.

"That's it? That would take me like half a second."

"With only my chakra."

"Maybe a bit more than half a second." Suigetsu admitted.

Naruto just nodded. "I just hope it isn't something just like that, like popping a rubber ball of anything. My hand cramps really bad, putting so much chakra into it. Anyway, I'm feeling hungry. Ramen, everyone?"

His two friends sighed, and nodded. Nothing could stop a ramen stop. Nothing.

…

"Jiraiya, so you're back. Three weeks late." Hiashi noted as the toad sage made his presence known.

The perverted sage just shrugged. "Sorry about that. I ran into a problem checking up on things in Kiri."

"And?" Hiashi took a personal interest in Kiri, due to his respect for bloodlines and bloodline persecution. He also figured Jiraiya knew what he had done

"Pretty much, I ended up getting caught with Zabuza Momochi and his second try of a coup. Oddest thing, I swear a dozen of his men, who were all wearing masks, must have had a bloodline very similar to yours. They seemed to see everything, and had a taijutsu that reminded me of the Jyuuken style."

Hiashi feigned surprise. "Really? I think I must investigate this claim."

Jiraiya just gave him a knowing look. "I know that you sent them, and I don't blame you. They helped deal with the forces that protected their Mizukage. Somehow, I got involved and Zabuza needed me for sealing the Mizukage who, big surprise, was their jinchuriki under a genjutsu."

This surprised Hiashi. "Really?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Don't get mad, but one of Kiri's men have a Byakugan, which he won in the Third War, and he could confirm it."

This shook Hiashi. "He took…our eye?" He was speaking as a clan leader, a force of habits even after three years.

Jiraiya could only nod. "It was war, don't get too caught up with it. He is part of our allies now."

"Allies?" That broke Hiashi from his fuming.

Jiraiya nodded. "Yes, ally. The Mizukage's power was sealed, leaving him not much stronger than a good chunin on his power alone. Once the genjutsu was removed, after a hell of a battle I tell you, he stepped down and let Zabuza take the position. Zabuza, I'm not sure if he is the best choice, there was this pretty little red head who was among the Kiri rebels that joined in that would have been better, but he is now the Mizukage."

"And our current treaty status with Kiri is…" Hiashi asked, leaving things open ended.

Jiraiya pulled out a scroll. "Signed here, best it's ever been."

Hiashi nodded and placed it on top of his desk, making it a priority reading. "I can call back my men then?"

Jiraiya nodded. "Probably, everything was pretty much settled when I left last week."

Hiashi let himself a small smile. "That is good to know. I will call them back immediately."

Jiraiya simply nodded. "Then there is Orochimaru… he is definitely involved with Otogakure, but I'm not sure in what capacity. I don't trust it one bit."

"Oto, really? Then I wonder if their team is simply a group of spies." Hiashi pondered to himself.

"Team? So we are in fact hosting the Chunin Exams early? I heard rumors but…"

Hiashi nodded. "Yes, we are returning the favor Suna gave us when I came into office, hosting the exams for us while we dealt with my coming to power."

"And their reason for cashing it in already?" Jiraiya asked.

"It seems like all of the foreign jinchuriki's are causing problems. The Kazekage's son, their jinchuriki, has defected from the village and has gone to living in the surrounding deserts. They are now calling him the Tanuki Sabaku. His actions have seemed to confuse his father and those who know him, who say that he met with a foreigner who colored his opinions. He now has bouts of protecting the village or massacring whomever he comes across. No one knows how to explain it, but they simply know it is a danger that they can't handle."

Jiraiya just shook his head. "Pity. If I could get a look at his seal, I could probably help, but on his home turf… that's risky."

Hiashi gave a short nod. "My thoughts exactly. Which is why I readily accepted the exams, which will begin in two days in fact. Some of the competitors are here." A dark look came over his face. "Though some are not happy about the change."

…

The trio neared the ramen stand when they heard a few voices.

"This ramen is the greatest food ever!" One voice called out, making Naruto smirk.

"You know, you sound like a blonde dobe I know." It was a voice they could finger as Sasuke's.

Naruto turned to Hinata and Suigetsu. "I didn't know Sasuke ate ramen. Did you?" The two shook their heads.

Shrugging, Naruto took lead, holding up the flap as they walked in. They saw five stools taken. One was by Sasuke, but four were by other ninja. They could tell just by what they wore. One was a teenage girl, a brown skinned red-head with an expression that could match Sasuke's. She was sitting around the corner, next to him, letting them see her face They could only see the back of the other three's heads, but one had brown skin and black hair like her. The others had white skin and blonder hair, or at least the teenager did. The only adult of the group had a bandana that covered his probably bald head. However, the fact that they were ninjas didn't cause them concern. No, it was the headband of the girl, the only one they could. An oval, next to a shape best described as a bubbled S.

Kumogakure.


	9. The Exams

This is the second reason why I wrote this story. This chapter. I am proud of it. It is a bit short, but I don't mind, because it says what I want it to say.

Note: Kagime was named from fusing the words 'kage' and 'hime'

The age of the genins is 14

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Please tell me what you think

…..

Teuchi Ichiraku was not a man that could be easily surprised.

However, feeling the level of animosity occurring in his ramen bar, it was startling. On the far left, Hinata, Naruto, and Suigetsu (in that order.) Then, sitting at the corner of his ramen stand were four shinobi from the village of Kumogakure. Now, he knew what they had done to Konoha and the Hyuga heiress in the past, but his policy was that a customer was a customer, and money was money. Then, sitting next to the red haired girl of the group was the last Uchiha. The group of three was wary of the Kumo four and Sasuke, and vice versa. It had been this way for the last month, since the Kumo ninjas had arrived for the Chunin Exams, and at his humble little ramen stand.

_Flashback:_

_Naruto immediately pushed Hinata behind him and Suigetsu had his sword drawn._

"_What the heck are you doing here?" Naruto's voice was direct and slightly venomous._

_Suigetsu looked to his Uchiha friend. "What the heck are you doing talking to them, Sasuke? You do know who they are, right? Bloodline-stealers!" He knew all about what Kumo had done and didn't trust the group either._

_The giant of a man next to them all turned around. He was a pale bald man, wearing a black bandana on his head. He had a weathered face and a pudgy nose, a scar running down his left jaw. He was wearing a chunin vest, but the trio could tell he was much stronger than a chunin. "Look here, brats. We ain't no bloodline stealers! Shoji went rogue with that mission, don't be blamin' us for him." He looked at the trio, and eyes landed on Hinata. His eyes drifted to her forehead, and he gave a small nod to himself. "Though I can't say I wouldn't do the same if some Konoha nin tried to take a heiress in Kumo. Name is Yoshi."_

_Naruto didn't let up. "Bullshit! And what are a bunch of Kumo nins doing in Konoha."_

_Sasuke sighed. "Dobe, did you already forgot? That you would be a better lapdog for your master. We are hosting the chunin exams in a few days."_

_Hinata was surprised. "Ano, we aren't supposed to host until next time."_

_Yoshi nodded. "Yeah, but from what I heard, shit is going down in Suna, so your Hokage is hosting the exams for them."_

_Naruto grimaced, and relaxed his guard a little, now focused on Sasuke. "Teme, what are you doing talking with them, though?"_

_Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I asked them what they were doing here, and they answered. I managed to find someone worth talking to, so I decided to hang around." He gestured somewhat to the girl next to him._

_Suigetsu wiggled his eyebrows at her, but she shook her head. "What's your name? Tenshi?"_

_The red haired girl nearly gagged. "My name is Kagime. Kagime Fuji. And the two bakas with me is Hiro Akaishi," the pale blonde rose his hand," and the one shoveling ramen in his face is Menma Ontake."_

_Naruto began to laugh. "Your name is Menma? You're named after a ramen topping? How lame!"_

"_You shouldn't talk, Na-ru-to." Naruto shot a look at a smug Sasuke._

_Menma stopped shoveling his face and turned around. "So what if I'm named after ramen? Ramen is awesome!"_

_Naruto couldn't but nod. "Yeah, it is…"_

_End of Flashback_

A truce was nearly formed over Menma's and Naruto's love of ramen, but an idiotic argument prevented this. Even Hinata thought Naruto was being stupid. Did it really matter if you 'worshiped' the 'broth' or the 'noodle'? It was honestly ridiculous. The fact they nearly got into a fight was truly petty. It took restraints from both Yoshi and Hinata to stop them from coming to blows. Hinata because she didn't want him to make them mad, while Yoshi knew they were still technically civilians, and had a lot of rights given to them, including having ninjas who attack them be arrested. And he didn't want to have to explain to A why one of Kumo's genin were in Konoha's prisons.

They had gotten to know the four somewhat through tense talks over the last month, as Menma and Yoshi dragged the team to Ichikaru's stand surprisingly often. The trio knew that Kagime could kick ass as a lightning jutsu user, Hiro was a decent swordsman who had failed to advance in the preliminaries (and had a crush on Kagime), and Menma was an idiotic lover of explosions with an infinite roll of explosive tags it seemed and loved ramen almost, if not as much as, Naruto. They knew the finals were in two days, and that Sasuke had promised to be there to see Kagime kicked ass. The bolt of lightning she sent after Naruto made kissy sounds was not pleasant.

The trio were trying their best to ignore the five at this moment, as Naruto updated them on his training with Ero-sennin.

"I haven't found him yet to show him, but I managed to complete the second task to learn the Rasengan. It was a pain, but here it is." Naruto pulled out of his pocket one of the two rubber balls he had with him and put it in his right palm. Then, by focusing his chakra into his right palm, and using his left to 'stab' at it, forcing the necessary counter rotations among the normal one, he managed to make the ball pop loudly.

Hinata nodded in appreciation. "That is really good, Naruto-kun! Soon you will have down the Fourth's signature technique."

Suigetsu grinned. "Yeah, yeah. I could still cut you in half if we fought."

Naruto shook his head. "No, the Rasengan would just destroy your sword, and then what would you have, Suigetsu?"

Suigetsu began to count off. "Taijutsu that could kick your ass, Suiton jutsu, and the natural ability to avoid ever being hit."

Naruto just frowned. "Whatever, the Rasengan is more awesome anyways."

Sasuke and Kagime, who had stopped their conversation after a loud pop from Naruto's direction, had watched the exchange, finally commented. "Popping a rubber ball with your chakra? That's how you learn the Rasengan? That seems way to easy to me."

Kagime agreed with him. "I could probably do it in thirty seconds."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the ignorance of the duo. He grabbed the other ball, and threw it at them. Sasuke caught it quickly. "Fine, if you think it's so easy, try it yourselves."

And they did. And they were both were humiliated in seeing that it wasn't as easy as they had presumed. Yoshi shook his head. "Kagime, Uchiha, you ain't gonna do it. R&D tried for five years to reverse engineer that jutsu, didn't have any luck. I don't think a genin and academy student will do it five minutes."

Kagime shot a look at her sensei, but he just shrugged. "Until you get voted to be chunin, you still a genin in my books." She threw the ball back at the trio. Then in a huff, she grabbed Sasuke by the arm as she spoke.

"Come on, I feel like some dango right now." Sasuke didn't particularly like most dango, but he still followed, Hiro was quick to follow, not wanting his crush to be alone with the Uchiha.

Yoshi let out a great sigh. He quickly paid for the bowl of the three who ran off and his own. He turned to Menma, raring to go on his third bowl. "Menma, pay for your food and let's go. We're heading to the dango shop."

Menma immediately looked up in fear. "No way! I'm not gonna let that crazy snake lady try to feed me to a snake again."

Naruto nodded in agreement. He hated the snake lady too, he made her drop one skewer, one skewer! and was forced to run for the rest of the day from her and her pets. Yoshi however, didn't have such sentiments. "Don't be stupid, and she won't attack you. Now come on, the others are probably at the stand by now."

Menma huffed, but pulled out his money to pay and marched off. Yoshi then spoke to the chef. "Good day, chef-san. I'm not sure if we will be back, but I hope ya business keeps doing well."

Teuchi nodded to the agreeable Kumo jonin. "Good day, ninja-san." With that, Yoshi caught up with the moping, marching, Menma.

The trio looked at the turn of events and Naruto was the first to say something. "Why would it be their last time coming back?" He asked Hinata and Suigetsu beside him.

Hinata explained. "Well, the finals are in two days, so they will probably train all tomorrow, then they will have the day of the finals, and the day after that is when they announce who is promoted to chunin. After that teams have to leave, so they might not have a chance to come back."

Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "Right. So Sasuke only has a few more days with his girlfriend." He joked, to Suigetsu agreement.

"You know, I'm surprised none of the fangirls from the academy have found out about her. Then again, she could just kick most of their asses. I bet, besides Hinata-sama, she could kick the asses of kunoichi in the academy."

Naruto nodded in agreement. "Yeah, there is no way she could beat Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed under the praise. "Guys…"

"Fine, Hinata-chan, we will stop talking about how awesome you are. So, is it true what I heard? That your sensei and Ko are finally together?" Naruto changed topics.

Hinata managed to calm herself and nodded. "Hai. Ko-san asked her to the movies over a week ago, and they have had two dates since. Shizune-sensei told me that on the last date, he asked her to officially become his girlfriend, and she agreed."

"Good to hear they finally stopped beating around the bush." Naruto commented.

Suigetsu smirked. "Yeah, its good to know that they have." He emphasized 'they', and looked at Naruto and Hinata. Both caught what he was implying. Hinata blazed red, while Naruto's cheeks were dusted in the color.

Naruto coughed. "No idea what you're talking about, Suigetsu. Oh look, a distraction." He pointed to their left.

Suigetsu actually turned his head, giving them time to leave. Suigetsu immediately realized what had happened and felt like an idiot. He turned to see them both out of their seat and making their getaway. He went to move, but a large pan was in his way. He turned to see the ramen chef holding it out. "I don't like dine and dashers. Pay up, Suigetsu." Suigetsu looked at how many bowls they had eaten and growned. He had two, Hinata had two, Naruto had six. He was going to get them back.

Naruto and Hinata laughed as they made their way to the Hyuga compound. It was almost sunset, so Naruto figured it was time to take Hinata home anyhow. They were soon standing at the entrance, both catching their breaths. It's hard to run and laugh at the same time!

Naruto let out another chucke. "Suigetsu is gonna be so mad we stuck him with the bill."

Hinata nodded. "We are going to pay him back, right?" She did feel guilty as well.

Naruto saw the guilt on her face and sighed. "Yeah, we will."

Hinata smiled. "Good."

There was an awkward silence, until Naruto took a step forward and enveloped Hinata in a hug. "Night, Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed, but kept herself awake and slowly wrapped her arms around Naruto. She let her face be buried in his chest for a moment. Then, grinning, she nodded. "Night, Naruto-kun."

The hug went on for a few seconds, until they hesitantly released themselves and made their way to their rooms. As he walked around the compound to reach his apartment, Naruto couldn't help but think about Hinata. He wasn't a fool, like he had been when he was younger. He knew Hinata liked him. Or at least, he was pretty sure she did. Enough people had hinted towards it for him to see it. No, his mind wandered to his own thoughts of her. She was his best friend, there was no way that could be denied. But did he like her, more than that? He had to admit, the thought of kissing her did make him smile, but he wasn't sure if that was the proper test of if you liked a girl. He wasn't sure, however, so he wouldn't make a move. He knew Hinata had it tough, from a judgmental family, to being kidnapped as a kid and losing her mother at six. He didn't want to add a broken heart to it. He cared about Hinata a lot, and wouldn't make a move until he was sure he liked her like that.

The next day, the trio listened to the outbursts of Sakura and Ino.

"Did you see Sasuke-kun yesterday at the dango shop! He was with some chick from Kumo!"

"What! Really?" Ino was shocked.

Sakura nodded furiously. "Yeah! She was even holding his hand, and he didn't trying to stop her!"

"What! Who does she think she is! Sasuke-kun is mine! Not some bitch from Kumo!"

"No, he's mine! We have to figure out how she tricked him."

Shikamaru, caught in the crosshairs of the fight, only shook his head. "You two just figured it out? He has been hanging with her and the Kumo team all month."

"A whole month!" They screamed in unison.

Suigetsu, from the back, spoke up. "Yeah, we have been wondering how come you guys hadn't figured it out."

Ino shot a look at him. "You guys knew too? How the heck does that happen? Naruto doesn't know anything!"

Naruto (and Hinata) shot an annoyed look at Ino. "I do too know stuff. And it was kind of hard to miss, Sasuke was hanging out with them every day, and they ended up coming to Ichiraku's almost everyday."

"They went to get ramen that often? The only person that would do that is a ramen addict like you!" Ino replied.

Naruto nodded. "They do, this dude named Menma."

There was a silence in the classroom, before Kiba randomly began to laugh. All eyes went towards him. He felt all of those eyes and stopped laughing. "Come on, that's funny. Ramen addicts named after ramen toppings? That's comedy gold!"

Everyone pretty much ignored Kiba as Sasuke conveniently walked into the room, only to be swarmed by his fangirls and cries of "Say it isn't true", "Why would you like her", and "I'm better than some Kumo bimbo." Eventally, it settled down as the two spokespeople of the Sasuke fangirls, Ino and Sakura, asked the question.

"I saw you yesterday with that chick from Kumo. She was holding your hand, and you weren't even complaining! If any of us tried, you would glare at us!"

Sasuke sighed as he looked at the group of fangirls, but promptly ignored them all. He walked down to his seat, but he was still hounded by his fangirls.

Eventually, one asked a question he saw fit to answer. "What's so special about that Kumo chick?"

Sasuke slowly turned around, and looked at the gaggle of girls surrounding him as he calmly explained. "Kagime doesn't act like an idiot. She is a serious kunoichi who wants to improve, and doesn't waste time fawning over somebody. She is somebody who is worthy of an Uchiha, something none of you are."

The fangirls were shocked at their total dismissal and how it seemed he was actually choosing some foreigner over them. Ino was actually offended by how little he thought of them and turned away from him to go to he seat.

Suigetsu loudly told Naruto and Hinata. "Looks like I don't have to harass him about restoring his clan." Everyone heard him, causing Sasuke to look the slightest bit embarrassed by such a proclamation. Quite a few fangirls shot looks towards Suigetsu, but he was saved from an attempted assault by the entrance of Iruka to the classroom.

Among themselves, Hinata commented to the situation. "It is nice and all Sasuke-san has found someone, but I do not see how they could possibly have a relationship. Our relations with Kumo are non-existent, there would be no chance for either to see one another. Otou-sama would never let Sasuke just go to Kumo, nor would he so casually let someone from Kumo in Konoha."

Naruto agreed. "I've been thinking about that too, I wonder what they are going to do?" Neither of them knew how to answer as class went on. The day finished as Hinata had a lesson with Shizune on medical jutsu, a topic she hadn't been taught before since Shizune didn't want her to practice it without her supervision, something she couldn't do when she was traveling with Tsunade so often. Suigetsu was getting help from Asuma Sarutobi on how to properly use elemental chakra with a weapon, while Naruto found Jiraiya and showed him how he completed the second stage of the Rasengan training. Jiraiya showed him the third and they did a review of the sealing arts had already learned. It was a pretty standard day, even as Naruto left the training ground, pants covered in soot from the explosion tags he had made. He ended up passing the entrance of the Uchiha compound, and noticed Yoshi and Kagime standing in front of it. Deciding to see what the heck was going on, he hid behind a building and dampened his chakra. Focusing a bit of chakra to his ears, he could hear fairly clearly what the duo were talking about.

"Do you think he was being serious?" He could tell that was Yoshi.

"I don't know, but I wouldn't blame him. Konoha is a bunch of weaklings, especially with that bastard Hyuga as Hokage! I can't believe him, making him sell off half of his family lands. If Kumo did that…" Kagime voice grew tense as she thought about it.

"Still, Konoha might be pissed at us. I really don't want to explain to A why Konoha is pissed at us. Especially because of your boyfriend…"

He could hear a punch. "He is not my boyfriend. However, he is the only person I have found who is worthy of dating me someday."

Naruto gagged slightly at how much Kagime sounded like Sasuke, but was also curious what exactly they might be doing to get Konoha pissed at them. And how was it Sasuke's idea? However, the gagging sounds caught Yoshi's attention. He turned to Naruto's direction. "Oi, who's hiding over there? Are you trying to spy on us or something? I don't care if you are a civilian, I'll kick ya ass." Naruto was quick to make himself scarce, questions still running through his mind of what they were talking about.

The next day was the Chunin Exams, and Naruto and Hinata sat almost ringside, with the leader of Kusa, Yoshi, and Hiashi himself in the Kage's box. Normally, Raikage A would make the trip down to the chunin exams, but animosity between him and Hiashi made this impossible. So, in his place, the Kumo jonin sensei sat there. Hinata and Naruto were too far away from the box to hear anything, but they presumed it was a tense situation. Sitting next to them was ironically Sasuke. They watched as he gave a pep talk to Kagime before her match with a leaf genin named Kabuto Yakushi.

"Look, that guy is weak. You said he has tried these exams six times, so he must stink. He got here by luck. It would be pitiful if you let him defeat you, a Kumo ninja."

Kagime nodded. "Of course. I didn't need you to tell me all that." She looked away from him, towards the center of the field where a Kusa genin was fighting a Konoha nin, a Nara, in the first match. The Nara had trapped the Kusa genin and knocked her out with a kunai with an exploding tag. The proctor announced her match against Kabuto and she let her smirk. "But thanks." She marched out there, ready to fight. Sasuke returned to his seat.

They looked at Sasuke, who let his gaze linger on her. "Look, I know you have the hots for her and stuff, but shouldn't you be rooting for the guy from your own village?"

Sasuke shot a mean look at him. "I'm free to do what I want. I can cheer for whoever I want to cheer for."

Hinata was surprised by the harsh tone in his voice. "There is no need to get into a fight, Sasuke-san, Naruto-kun."

Naruto and Sasuke turned away from each other and instead focused on the match.

The match began with a simple battle of taijutsu, a contest that Kagime was clearly winning. Eventually, Kabuto was forced to throw down a few smoke bombs as he retreated to the safety of the trees. While he waited in there, Kagime began to cast a few thunderbolt jutsus, sending them crackling into the trees. A few limbs exploded off but he was nowhere to be seen. Kagime cautiously looked around, when suddenly Kabuto burst from the ground, seemingly healed from her earlier onslaught, attacking her with kunai. She managed to get a nice cut in her arm, but she quickly shot a small bolt of lightning at the kunai, shocking Kabuto and causing them to drop. Kagime rushed in, ducking a swipe from Kabuto, and kneed him in the gut followed by a punch to the face. Kabuto crashed onto the ground, and Kagime threw a few shuriken at his head, two of them cutting deeply along his cheeks, another bouncing off his forehead protector. He quickly called out, "I forfeit!" in an attempt to save his life. The proctor stopped Kagime, and named her victor by in-combat forfeit.

She returned to the waiting platform, Sasuke already there to congratulate her. "You defeated him as you should of."

She gave him a smirk. "Of course."

Naruto whispered to Hinata. "They flirt really weirdly, don't they?" Hinata blushed but agreed with him.

The next match was with Menma, versus a Konoha ninja who was a taijutsu machine. Menma was nearly crippled from the devastating blows he recived and tried to block, but the match ended in a double knockout when the Konoha ninja went for the knockout blow, Menma activated three explosive tag he had dropped. Both were rushed to the medic bay, but Kagime showed little worry for her teammate, blaming him if he got hurt for blowing himself up. The final match, between two Konoha nins with masks on their face named Yoroi and Misumi. It was a long boring battle, filled with kunai and shuriken throws. Naruto overheard Kagime explain that they were teammates of her opponent Kabuto, and had special taijutsu techniques, absorbing chakra and 'soft physique modification', that meant they wouldn't want to fight one another up close. Eventually one took the risk and began to absorb chakra, meaning it was Yoroi. However, Misumi wrapped his arm around his neck and choked him out before he could do finish, making Misumi the winner, and advancing.

There was soon a discussion between Hiashi and Yoshi, and it was announced that the final match would be a three person match, Nara vs Kagime vs Misumi. Kagime didn't even flinch from the announcement. When the match occurred, it seemed to be a massacre from the beginning. Kagime eventually sent devastating ration jutsu to each competitor, while keeping them at bay. She had knocked out Misumi with a lightning chakra infused kunai when she was caught by the shadow of the Nara and slowly suffocated, causing her to pass out, as she refused to forfeit. Sasuke was worried about her and actually went to the medical bay to check on her. The chunin exam winner was given a cash prize for their efforts, and official results would be announced the next day.

The next day at the academy, the talk was about what people knew of the chunin exams. Naruto and Hinata were stars of the show since they went, and explained in detail what had happened. Sasuke would have been a star as well, if he had been there. But he was oddly missing from the day's activities. Suigetsu claimed it was that he was at the bedside of his girlfriend, prompting a Sakura assault, but no one really knew where he was.

None of them, however, were surprised to find him at the Chunin Rewardment ceremony, sitting near the Kumo section. Hiashi called out two names out to become chunin. The Nara girl, named Fuen, was rewarded a vest in her ability to plan and to succeed. The second one was given to Kagime, for her power, her will to succeed, and her ability to find the best ways to win. Hiashi was proud of the Konoha victory, and didn't even hate the fact he was forced to reward a vest to a Kumo ninja.

In fact, later that day, he was feeling great. He had seized the assets of a traitor, empowering Konoha in the process, and had just signed off on their prison sentence. There wasn't much that could ruin his day.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The loud explosions in the village caused Hiashi to jump out of his chair and outside, to find where the blasts had occurred from. He was shocked that they were from the Uchiha compound, so he made his way there as fast as he could.

A few jonin had set the scene, with Kakashi at the head of the makeshift operation. Hiashi quickly strode up to him. "What happened? Are there any casualities?"

Kakashi shook his head, a defeated look in his visible eye. It was then Hiashi noticed the note in Kakashi's hand. The copy-cat ninja handed it to him with the simple statement, "This is bad." Hiashi grabbed and began to read its contents.

_Hokage-sama_

_If you are reading this note, then the destruction of my former home has commenced and you have been notified of my absence. This is because of a simple fact._

_I am no longer in Konohagakure._

_I have discovered a new home, a stronger home, a home where my goals can be achieved. Kumogakure._

_This land, as I have heard from my new companions, is a paradise compared to here. This is a village who will respect me. Who will recognize my importance as a holder of the Sharingan, the very doujutsu I activated training with my new Kumo companions._

_This is not a village who will try to steal my families land or secrets. This is not a village that will keep their best ninjas as civilians, free to move as they please. It is a place worthy of the rebirth of the Uchiha clan. Konoha has abandoned their greatest clan. So now, the greatest clan has abandoned Konoha._

_Signed,_

_Sasuke Uchiha, Shinobi of Kumogakure_


	10. Gone

It was an odd day for Konoha, as a group of friends found themselves within the apartment of one Naruto Uzumaki, waiting to hear word from the Hyuga heiress. The three seats on his couch were claimed by Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka, and Suigetsu Hozuki. The dining room chairs were taken by up by the host Naruto and Choji Akimichi, and lying across the floor was Shikamaru Nara. The six idly chatted as they waited for Hinata to come back from the mission Naruto had asked of her.

"Do you think Sasuke-kun is just hurt, or what? He has been gone five days." Sakura asked Suigetsu, who was trying to get his arm around Ino. He paused, and shrugged his shoulders.

"I mean, he probably is. His block was leveled by something. Do you think it was some enemy ninja, like they were saying?"

Naruto shook his head. "There is no way it could be that. Someone would have noticed a ninja tagging the entire Uchiha district. Sasuke would have noticed. Heck, his girlfriend and her team would have noticed." He ignored the slight growl from the two fan girls.

Ino stopped and sighed. "I heard rumors that it was the Kumo team, that they kidnapped Sasuke-kun! Evil seductress took away my Sasuke-kun to be bred like a mule! He deserves a lot better!"

Sakura rolled her eyes at Ino's claims on Sasuke, but agreed with the sentiment. "It makes sense. They bring in some girl to seduce him, and then take him in the middle of the night! And that one guy on the team, he used a lot of explosions. That's what you and Hinata said Naruto. Maybe he set it all up?"

Choji took a break from his chips to comment. "It makes sense. What do you think Shikamaru?"

The lazy genius opened his eyes for a moment to look at his friend, closed them for a few second, and let out a sigh. "I don't know. Uchiha would have notice him tagging the whole district, no matter how seductive that chick might have been. You know he is super paranoid after Hokage-sama made him sell half of it to make room for the new academy. It is suppose to be at a better strategic location and closer to the residential homes, but Uchiha is convinced it is a part of a conspiracy. He would never let it go unnoticed."

"Unless those bastards took him already. I mean, unless he is just really badly hurt. I wish I knew what the heck happened! Why is Hiashi-sama being so quiet about it?" Naruto complained to his friends. At that moment, there was a knock at the door. Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Who is it?"

"It's me, Hinata!" The person behind the door proclaimed in a low voice. Naruto recognized it as Hinata's, so he responded by calling her in. She stepped in, head downcast. She was quickly swarmed by Sakura and Ino, both asking questions about what had happened to their precious Sasuke-kun. She didn't say anything, but found a seat in the spot that once belonged to Ino, as it was the seat closest to where Naruto was sitting. She dropped into the seat, head still down, fist clenched in her lap. Naruto put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up. He could tell she was feeling multiple emotions, from surprise to uncomfortableness and, to his confusion, a little anger.

Hesitantly, he asked her, "Did you find out anything from spying on your dad?" She nodded, but didn't say anything. Naruto hushed the questions of Ino and Sakura as he tried to coax the answer from his best friend.

"Well, what did you find out?" He asked, wondering what could have affected her so.

"He left." She mumbled in a low whisper. At least, that was what Naruto thought he heard, but that didn't make any sense.

"What?"

Hinata took a gulp, and said in a clear, but quiet voice "He left."

"Left? What do you mean, left?" Sakura quickly asked her.

Hinata took a few breathes as she began to explain. "I… overheard father speak to Kiba's mother. Her husband… was killed."

"What does that have to do with Sasuke-kun?" Ino impatiently asked. She didn't mean to be insensitive, and would have to give her condolences to Kiba in class tomorrow, but she was wondering what happened to Sasuke.

Naruto turned to yell at Ino to calm down, but Shikamaru spoke up. "Troublesome. Let Hinata-san explain, Ino-san. If she is mentioning it, it must be important."

Ino was shut up by the blunt statement. "Thank you, Shikamaru-san." Hinata told the lazy ninja, who just gave a small wave of acknowledgement.

Hinata took a moment to remember what she was saying, and continued on. "He was tracking the Kumo team, since they had Sasuke-"Hinata paused to let Ino and Sakura yell out.

"That Kumo bitch stole him!"

"They kidnapped Sasuke-kun!"

After getting hushed by an interested Suigetsu, Hinata continued. "Then otou-sama told her that…that… the letter they found was really written by Sasuke. That it was not a kidnapping but that Sasuke abandoned Konoha for Kumo on his own."

Everyone had their own reactions to this news. Sakura was in disbelief that Sasuke would ever voluntarily leave her, Ino was angered that the guy she had liked was a traitor, Suigetsu simply widened his eyes, Choji stopped eating his chips and tightened his fist, Shikamaru sat up, and Naruto began to growl.

"He did what!" Naruto yelled out.

Hinata simply nodded. "That is what otou-sama said."

Naruto began to growl. "I can't believe him, how can anyone ever think about leaving their village!"

Suigetsu looked at the reactions of everyone and decided to finally comment. "Why are you all so angry?"

All, even Shikamaru, were thrown off by that comment. Naruto was the first to recover. "Why do you think? He abandoned his village! That's unforgivable!"

Suigetsu stood up and shook his head. "How come you're friends with me, then? I abandoned my village, too."

Naruto was taken aback by this statement, only just realizing that was true. Hinata commented in his place. "Ano, it's different, Suigetsu-kun. You were being prosecuted, while Sasuke left for…some other reason." Hinata didn't know what that was, but it wasn't the same.

Suigetsu shrugged. "Tell that to him. You know how paranoid he was, that your dad was against him Hinata-sama. It may have been brash, but Sasuke's a big boy. He can make his own decisions."

Naruto was still mad. "How can you be okay with it so nonchalantly? What Sasuke did was wrong!"

"How come?" He asked, trying to get Naruto to analyze his statement.

"You're not…I mean…it just is! You are supposed to be loyal to your village!" Naruto made the key part of his argument.

Suigetsu shook his head. "Why is that? Just because you are born somewhere, you are supposed to be loyal? That seems kind of dumb. So, if you were born in Iwa, and hate all of Iwa's policies, you have to be loyal to Iwa!"

"Yeah!" Naruto immediately responded, but paused a moment later. His confusion over the logic of what Suigetsu said was obvious, as Suigetsu nodded to himself. He walked to the door. Before he left, he turned back to Naruto. "Look, I'm not agreeing with what Sasuke did, but there is no reason to hate him for it." With those closing statements, he left the residence to the six young teenagers to think about the conversation that had just taken place.

Surprisingly, the first to leave was Ino. She had not been swayed by Suigetsu's argument, as she left muttering about how Sasuke was a bastard.

The next to leave was Choji, who tried and failed to bring Shikamaru with him out of the house. He had a contemplative look on his face, as he seemed to ponder the conundrum Suigetsu had asked the group. He said his good byes to the people in the room, the question running through his mind.

Sakura stood up and turned to Hinata. The duo noticed that she was beginning to tear up." This is all your fault!" She pointed at Hinata.

Hinata went wide eyed at the accusation. "My fault!"

Sakura nodded, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Yeah, yours and your dad's! I don't think Sasuke-kun really ran away, but if he did, it was because of your father being a big jerk to him!"

Naruto was quick to defend his best friend. "Hey, don't talk to Hinata-chan like that! It wasn't her fault, or her dad's fault, if Sasuke went all emo and left to be with his girlfriend!"

Sakura sniffed a little, and let out a "humph!" before she marched out the apartment. It was now just Hinata and Naruto.

"Don't listen to her, Hinata-chan. If the teme left because he got his feelings hurt, he needs to get over it! With his logic, I would have run away years ago!"

The reminder of the harsh life her crush lived made Hinata even sadder. Naruto realized this and knew he made a mistake; he just wasn't sure what it was. "Don't cry, Hinata-chan! You know I would never run away! Even if all the villagers hate me with the fur ball in my gut! I will protect them as Hokage anyway!"

Naruto had never hid his secret from Hinata, telling her one of the next times they saw each other after he found out. She had been shocked of course, and angry, but angry at the villagers who mistreated him for protecting them. Hinata began to stop her crying, sniffing a little. "Your right, Naruto-kun." She slowly said through sniffs. "I just, I hate thinking about how bad everyone treated you."

Naruto smiled at the very kind girl, one that made her blush when she saw it. She turned her face away from him so he wouldn't notice, so she didn't see he was going in for a hug until he had latched his arms around her. "Did anyone ever tell you how kind you are? You have to be, like the kindest person ever!" He was hunched over her, and slowly moving to the open seat of the couch.

Hinata smiled into his shoulder as she returned the hug. "Thank you, Naruto-kun."

The two broke the hug and just began to talk about a few things, mainly around the academy exams in a few weeks and who they would end up having to fight.

"I really…don't want to fight Neji-nii-san." Hinata admitted to Naruto.

Naruto looked at her and frowned. "I don't know why you are so afraid of him. I mean, yeah, he's a jerk to you still but you could kick his butt!"

Hinata gave a small smile, but hung her head down. "I'm glad you think I can." She said glumly. Naruto looked over to her mini-depressed state and had a change of heart. "Your right, though. I don't want you to fight him."

Hinata looked up surprised. "What?" She never thought Naruto would have said anything like that to her. Was he…was he doubting her?

"Yeah, because I want to be the one that spars against him and kicks his butt! He thinks he's so high and mighty that he's already a chunin, but I'll show him. And since you can beat me, and I beat him, that means you can beat him, right?"

Hinata was surprised at the basic logic to that statement and nodded. "Right." She knew it wasn't a hundred percent true, but she didn't want to throw off Naruto when he was on a roll.

Naruto still nodded. "Anyway, no matter which chunin you have to spar with for the exam, I'm sure you can kick their butts like you kick mine."

Hinata nodded again, this time in thanks to Naruto and the natural confidence he exuded.

It was soon after that Hinata noticed she had to leave, since the sun was setting. "I have to go, Naruto-kun. See you tomorrow." She stood up from the couch, Naruto standing up with her, him with the purpose of heading to the bathroom.

"Ok, Hinata-chan. See you tomorrow." With that, Hinata walked directly to the door and left. Naruto stepped around his coffee table and had the shock of his life.

"Ne, Shikamaru! What are you still doing here!" Naruto had nearly pissed himself at the sight of his friend who had been accidentally dragged by Choji into the one spot they wouldn't notice on the couch.

The extremely lazy Nara opened his eyes. "Oh, so you finally noticed I was still here."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, you haven't made a sound and your hiding behind the coffee table. Why would I have noticed? Now get out!"

Shikamaru sat up and let out a long sigh. "So troublesome. Fine, I'll leave." He then stood up, and began to make for the door. He paused, and turned back around to Naruto. "And don't worry, I don't care that you have the Kyuubi inside of you. You're still my knuckleheaded friend." With Naruto's jaw on the floor, he left the apartment. He began to question how he could have known, and remembered simply referencing it at the beginning of his and Hinata's conversation. Had Shikamaru been trying to figure out what that meant the whole time? Naruto figured that must have been it, he knew Shikamaru was smart, and probably figured it out after a bit. He was also really glad that Shikamaru didn't care that he held the Kyuubi inside of him, as he was now his second friend to know and neither thought any differently of him. He hadn't even told Suigetsu yet, it just hadn't been ever convenient to bring up. With this Naruto relaxed, and remembered he had to go to the bathroom, so he bounded for the toilet.

(For the record, that bit was only 33 seconds, as he connected fur ball to Naruto's birthday to his whiskers to the Kyuubi in that amount of time. It took 8 seconds for him to cope with this realization, as he then continued on to his 6,711th mental game of Shogi. As of that moment, he was 4411-2086-213.)

Two days later, a week after the explosions rocked the Uchiha district; it became general knowledge that Sasuke Uchiha had abandoned Konoha for Kumogakure. It had not been spread through gossip among the seven young teens who knew, but rather by the Hokage revealing the information to the jonin council and letting them reveal it to the people of Konoha. When Naruto and Hinata reached school that day, it was the news everyone was talking about. However, neither felt enthused to enter these discussions. Suigetsu was in his normal spot next to them, and both at least greeted him, but Naruto was not in a mood to talk with him after there last discussion. They noted two people, when the bell had rung, were not at school today. Again. Sakura and Kiba were missing a second day in the row, each for their own mourning. Or, at least they thought both were. As the bell rang, the door swung open. All eyes turned to whoever was late, and there was an impressive sight.

Kiba walked in wearing a serious expression, with a new jacket over his old grey one. It was oversized for him, the sleeves were rolled up a bit, and it was a dark green jacket without a hood. In the front of his jacket was Akamaru, looking almost as serious as his master. And to his left stood a giant of a dog, that came to his neck in height. It looked somewhat like Akamaru, but he was grey with a black patch around his left eye. Everyone had heard the rumor that Kiba's dad had been killed, and those who didn't know had it confirmed by Kiba's attitude and the dog that had been paired with his father, the vicious Hantamaru. No one said anything as Kiba found his seat, with Hantamaru sitting next to him. Iruka eventually ended the silence, simply thanking Kiba for coming to class and he began his lesson. A few minutes into the lesson, everything was back to normal in class, and the gossip was whispered from person to person. Two kunoichi who sat below Kiba were talking with one another.

"I wonder if it is some sort of secret mission. There is no way he would really leave when I'm still here!"

"First off, he should be here for me. Secondly, I hope it is. I wonder when Sasuke will come back."

Both girls stopped as the heard a chorus of growls behind them. They then noticed Akamaru, Kiba, and scarily enough, Hantamaru were all growling at them. The class came to a halt as the heard the loud growls. Before Iruka could admonish the Inuzuka for disrupting class, Kiba snarled at the girls. "Do NOT speak the name of that traitor!"

Both girls were obviously terrified by the venom in his voice, and immediately nodded. Iruka stopped his admonishment and simply told the Inuzuka to meet him after class. It became clear in class that the topic of the Uchiha was taboo, on fear of an angry Kiba and Hantamaru. Class was relatively silent that day.

As the end of class came, many people walked up to Kiba and said sorry about his father. He seemed a lot calmer, and was a lot more receptive of people. Eventually Naruto, Hinata, and Suigetsu were up to talk to Kiba, the last to talk to him.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how bad it must feel." Naruto admitted to Kiba.

Kiba began to scratch the top of Hantamaru's head. "Yeah, thanks."

"Kiba-san, I know it feels terrible, losing a parent, but the hurt will heal." Hinata diplomatically told the Inuzuka.

Kiba gave a small smile at the words of encouragement. He was glad someone could understand some of his pain. "Thanks, Hinata-san."

"Yeah, it really sucks about your dad. Sorry." Suigetsu told the Inuzuka, lacking much decorum.

Kiba shot a bit of a look, never fully liking Suigetsu, but gave a single nod. "Yeah, thanks."

There was almost an awkward silence, before Naruto asked. "How come you are wearing that jacket? Isn't it a little big for you?"

Kiba stopped scratching Hantamaru's head and tugged his jacket. "This? It was my dad's. I'm gonna start wearing it, in honor of him."

Hinata smiled. "That is a good way of honoring him." Suigetsu nodded behind him.

"Yeah, I'm gonna wear this until I fulfill my vow." Kiba ominously said. All three had no idea what he meant.

"What do you mean, fulfill your vow?" Naruto asked, wondering about the bold statement from him. However, before Kiba could answer, Iruka called him over to his desk. So, he told the trio good day as he went to talk to their sensei. The trio left the two in peace to talk.

Once they had left the academy, Naruto turned to Suigetsu. "I'm sorry."

Suigetsu was caught off balance by the sudden apology. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I ignored you today. Again. And I've been thinking that it is kind of stupid to do that. Just because I disagree with you should mean I ignore you." Naruto explained.

Suigetsu thought for a moment, before he nodded. "That's okay. It isn't like I tried to talk to you either."

Naruto smirked. "So we're cool?"

Suigetsu nodded. "Yeah, we're cool."

"Then do you want to spar?"

Suigetsu raised an eyebrow. "Spar? Sure."

Hinata ended up following the two to the training field and watched the two set up on the opposite sides of their special training ground. The two made a small nod at one another, to show that the spar was set to begin, and Hinata watched on as they fought. It began with a simple taijutsu battle, directed by Suigetsu, with Naruto having little ability to handle it. However, Hinata that was a risky strategy, as the training ground had no easily available water resources for Suigetsu to recuperate in. After a kick that went over a ducking Naruto, Naruto changed the pace of the battle. He rolled away from the swordsman and began to perform a series of hand signs, before loudly calling out, "Futon: Kukidan!" A sizable wind bullet shot from his arms, forcing Suigetsu to use the Kawirimi no Jutsu to escape. Naruto didn't let up, as he tried to track Suigetsu in the trees as he sent another trio of the air bullets in the woods, pulverizing the trunks were they hit. Naruto stopped the barrage of air bullets and waited for Suigetsu to show up. He pulled out a pair of kunai to defend himself, and managed to block Suigetsu's custom blade in time. After that, it was a battle of survival for Naruto as he tried to escape the sword. Hinata grew worried for Naruto, knowing a slash would hurt him immensely. Suddenly, Naruto back flipped out of Suigetsu's range and threw both kunai at him. He blatantly used the Kawirimi no Jutsu and left the training ground. Suigetsu grew tense as he waited for the next action of his sparring partner.

…

A few days before the Genin exams, Naruto was at the office of Hiashi Hyuga. It was not a completely unusual endeavor for Naruto, but he still had no idea why this was needed.

"So, Hiashi-sama, what do you want to talk about today?" Naruto calmly asked his Hokage.

Hiashi seemed to be studying Naruto where he sat. Naruto shifted slightly uncomfortably. "Um, Hiashi-sama?"

He reacted by stopping his studious glare and looked out the window. "I found something, something that you will cherish."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, I will cherish it?" This had come out of nowhere, so Naruto wasn't sure how to react.

Hiashi turned back to his desk, and grabbed a wafer thin folder. "It was thought it was lost with many of the other records during the Kyuubi's attack. However, somebody in our Research development was going over old files and found it had been among the chunin records accidentally stuck there after the attack."

Naruto was still really confused. "What are you talking about, Hiashi-sama?"

He handed him the folder. "Her full name was Kushina Uzumaki."

Naruto's eyes lit up as he grabbed the folder and opened it up. There, along with a basic set of information, was a picture of his mother when she was a young adult. He noticed her long red hair, purple eyes, and sweet smile and saw that his mother was beautiful. He didn't even notice he was crying.

"Consider this a thank you for being a great protector of my daughter for the last few years." He calmly told the boy, as Naruto was still teary-eyed and smiling. What he said wasn't a lie; they had literally just found the file the other days among other misplaced files. While Hiashi would admit his intentions about releasing this information to Naruto was not completely pure, especially after the Uchiha defection and Sand Jinchuriki Affair, but he would admit to himself privately he was happy due to the joy in Naruto's eyes. However, he would never let it show. "That is all I called you here for today, Naruto. You may leave, and you can take the folder."

Naruto looked up, wide-eyed. "Really?"

Hiashi nodded. "It is common practice for orphans to keep this information, to enable them to have a connection to their parents."

Naruto gave a giant smile and stood up, immediately bowing. "Thank you, Hiashi-sama. Thank you!" He immediately left the room, to go who knows where. He closed the door behind him, leaving Hiashi to think to himself. He was hoping for a correspondence from the new Mizukage, hoping that he would agree to the offer he was making. Danzo thought it was a terrible waste of resources, but Danzo's opinion didn't hold much weight with Hiashi anymore. It was more personal, more fundamental to him then a simple power struggle. He heard a knock at the door, seeing it was Iruka Umino, the instructor of his daughter and the rest of the graduating class.

"Ah, Iruka-san, it is a pleasure to see you. If Suzuki-chan let you up, I suppose it means that…"

"My selections for which chunin's my student spar are done? Yes, yes it is. I would have been here a minute ago, but Suzuki-san wanted to know who her daughter was facing tomorrow and why."

"And who is she facing tomorrow?" Hiashi asked politely.

"Well, I had almost changed it due to the recent events, but I selected her to face Hana Inuzuka."

"And whom is my daughter facing?" He asked, interested by the selection.

"To face your daughter, Hokage-sama, I selected Mizuki. He is a very capable fighter, you know this."

Hiashi nodded slightly, still fairly suspicious of the Mizuki figure, despite his secret forces finding no connection to him and the Snake Sannin. "Out of curiosity, did you select Neji to fight anyone?"

"Well, I decided that he should try and fight Suigetsu-"However, Hiashi cut him off.

"I thought it was understood Suigetsu would automatically pass, as he just went to the Academy for a year to ensure his education and loyalties to Konoha. His combat skills are not of question."

Iruka raised his eyebrows. "Ohhh, right, I forgot Hokage-sama. Then no one is fighting Neji, sir."

"Who is Naruto fighting then?" Hiashi asked, seemingly innocently.

"Oh, I have him sparring with Fuen Nara. She is highly intelligent and a difficult match-up with Naruto's abilities. Also, he has said in class he wanted to fight her to prove himself, and I thought this was a good opportunity."

Hiashi didn't disagree with the analysis, but still. "I ask you have Naruto face Neji."

Iruka normally didn't want to challenge the Hokage's words, but he thought this was illogical. "Hokage-sama, it makes more sense for him-"He was stopped by the Hokage.

"It may make more sense to you, Iruka-san, but I believe it would be better fit if they sparred. Understand?"

Iruka held his tongue as he nodded. "Your desire shall be granted."

Hiashi let a small smile pass his lips. "Thank you for understanding, Iruka-san. I trust your judgment in the selection. Thank you for notifying me as well. Good day, Iruka-san."

Iruka twitched his face to frown, but caught himself. Bowing, he bid the Hokage farewell. Once again, the Hokage was alone. And once again, Hiashi found himself pleased that he knew how to do the Tomegane no Jutsu with the Sandaime's crystal ball. He wanted to see the spar between those two, and if his plan would work.

…..

So, here is Chapter 10, and I hope you all like it. So, the first part of the chapter was my response to many of your reviews, and Suigetsu is my voice of reason here. I really like this chapter, even though it was a pain to write, and hope that nothing was too wacky for you. Though I do not care what you say about the Shikamaru Sidebar, I think it is funny. Please, drop a comment or, if you haven't already, a follow or a favorite!


	11. Hinata vs Mizuki

Sorry about the long delay… for future reference, nothing is cancelled, but just seriously delayed. I plan on finishing pretty much everything I have written on here, or will remove it so you forget that it exists. This story, though, is too long for that fate. However, this chapter has been shortened because I want to give this to the readers. So it will get done! Anyway, here is chapter 11 of Lost Idol.

…..

"Will Hinata Hyuga step into the ring?" A nameless proctor for the genin exam called out after the depressing bout between Sakura and her chunin opponent finished. Naruto turned to Hinata, who had been standing with him, and simply nodded to her.

"Don't worry Hinata-chan, you'll kick their ass."

A slight blush, persistent ever at his praise, dusted her face. "Thank you Naruto-kun." She replied as she walked into the middle of the ring, waiting for the opponent that was still unknown to her. Naruto settled in to watch the fight when a voice startled him.

"She isn't scared or anything, right?" He turned to see Suigetsu, who was hanging around seeing how everybody else was doing in the exams since he was exempt.

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, she's ready to kick some ass. So, how did Ino's match end?" He knew that was where Suigetsu had been, as Ino had been the first match in the C Ring.

"Nothing too surprising. She fought really hard, but got knocked out when she went to knock him out. She will definitely pass, though. How did Sakura do?" Suigetsu asked back.

"She was pretty bad actually. She didn't last two minutes, and nearly got herself blown up. I'm not sure if she'll pass." Naruto honestly told him.

Suigetsu shrugged. "Well, we won't know for sure until next week." He noticed the chunin stepping into the ring with Hinata, after the rules had been explained to her. "Really, she has to fight Mizuki-sensei? That's kind of surprising." Naruto nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but I know she can take him with no problems." Naruto confidently commented. "I mean, I know he's got to be strong and stuff, being a chunin and all, but Hinata has been getting a lot of training and is really good with senbon and stuff. Plus jyuken really hurts."

Suigetsu nodded. "I hear you. It still screws up my body."

They watched as the match was called to begin. Hinata charged Mizuki, knowing that she could not dawdle. She pulled a trio of senbon from her pouch and threw them high, forcing Mizuki to stay on the ground as she charged, palms prepared for a jyuken strike.

Mizuki had a kunai out, preparted to block any senbon, but was simply instead watching Hinata cautiously. "Come on, Miss Hinata. I want you to go full out." He said, a hint of menace in his voice caught by none. He watched as Hinata slid in front of him and began to throw targeted strikes to his chest area, forcing him to backflip away. He sent the kunai flying at her to see how she would react. She bobbed her head and listened to the whistle as the kunai flew by. Mizuki took the opportunity to charge back and aim a low kick on the Hyuga.

Hinata jumped over the kick and saw Mizuki's fist aim for her kneecap. She slapped it away with a stinging palm. It didn't close any chakra points, but it did not feel pleasant. She landed and began to charge at him, palms trying to strike him quickly, his dodges only being slightly faster. One blow grazed his side, stunning him momentarily, and he was forced to jump back to try and avoid a lethal combination. That jump gave Hinata an opportunity to reach for a handful of shuriken this time, which she threw at the spot where Mizuki was going to land. He quickly hit the spot and jumped high in the air back up, narrowly dodging the shuriken.

A sneer overcame his face and he made handsigns while in the air. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu." Hinata's eyes went wide at the blow as she scrambled to avoid the fiery blast.

On the sidelines, Suigetsu grimaced. "He is really going hard on Hinata-sama. I mean, I know the rules say that proctors can use ninjutsu, but I really haven't seen them do that much of it."

Naruto waved off the complaint. "Whatever. When Hinata-chan beats him, it will just show how much ass she can really kick."

Hinata took the time to make a trio of bunshin to surround her, in hopes to confuse her opponent. They all encircled him and charged him. Mizuki quickly threw shuriken in the way of all of the Hinata's causing them to jump to avoid them. Mizuki calmed down and listened, waiting for the single thump that would be created by the real Hinata. He suddenly charged to the one south of him, knowing it was the real one. He tried to surprise her with a punch to the face, but she avoided the blow and took the opportunity to land a Jyuken blow in the stomach area of Mizuki. He stumbled back, surprised at the attack. Then he growled.

"That hurt! I have to take you out quick if I don't want to be messed up too badly." He jumped back at least twenty feet , making hand signs as he jumped.

"It sounds like he is really trying to beat her." Suigetsu noted after that last comment.

Naruto gave a nod. "Yeah, but he is probably acting the part. I mean, Mizuki-sensei is a good guy and would never purposefully hurt one of his students, right?" He rhetorically asked.

He didn't get an answer as Mizuki yelled out the name of the jutsu he was working, his hands in the ground. "Doton: Goremu Ken no Jutsu!" He ripped his hands from the earth, two small compact boulders making his hands invisible from view. Then, without hesitation, he charged after Hinata.

It quickly began a dodging contest for Hinata as she avoided the heavy handed strikes, all of her attacks, senbon or palm, deflected by those fists. However, Hinata had been sparring with Naruto for years, and Suigetsu for months, so she had a few tricks up her sleeve. She simply had to wait for the right opportunity, which was when Mizuki smashed both fists towards the ground at once. Backing off for a moment, she quickly jumped onto the bouldered fists and delivered a left knee to Mizuki's chin, followed by a right kick to the chest, sending him tumbling backwards.

With the same intensity as he had attacked earlier, she charged her fallen foe. Mizuki quickly stood, the boulders in front of him to act as shields.

"You are within my range of divination. Gentle Fist, 32 strikes!" Hinata called out as she began her combination on Mizuki. "Two Palm! Four Palm! Eight Palm!" Her strikes had the boulders crumbling. "16 Palm!" The boulder was now gone and one or two had connected. "32 Palm!" All hit Mizuki, causing him a great amount of obvious pain. He began to swear slightly, earning a look from the proctor that was ignored. Taking a deep breath, Mizuki took a moment to try and ignore the pain. He then immediately pulled out a kunai and attacked Hinata, focusing his attacks on her hands. Hinata was now on the defensive of his assault, and was obviously scrambling.

Naruto turned to Suigetsu. "He is really going all out on this acting thing, huh?" He was surprised to see Suigetsu have a hand on his sword. "Wait, what are you doing?"

Suigetsu turned an eye to Naruto. "Something feels off about Mizuki-sensei. I don't know what, but I feel a lot more comfortable right now with a hand on my sword than I did before."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You are just being ridiculous."

"No, he isn't. I can smell the anger coming off of him." The two turned to see Kiba standing there, Akamaru on his head. He was watching the fight intently.

"Hey Kiba-san. What do you mean, you can smell anger? You can't smell emotion!" Naruto scoffed.

Kiba kept his attention on the match. "You wouldn't believe what the nose can do. I just want this to hurry up though. I'm next, and I just want to go in and fight."

Suigetsu began to look around. "Hey, where is your other dog. You know, what's his name…Hantamaru?"

"Yeah, Hantamaru. He is home today. I don't need him for today." Kiba suddenly smirked. "It's over." This caused Naruto and Suigetsu to focus fully on the match.

Mizuki had slashed Hinata's left palm, and was aiming for the right one now. Hinata was on the run, fumbling in her pouch, pulling out a cream. Holding it in her left hand, she quickly unscrewed it with her wait, and dabbed her right index inside. Within seconds she was rubbing it on her wound, and with another few seconds she had recapped the cream and put it back in the pouch. However, it was almost too late, as Mizuki was on top of her, he swung the kunai down on her. However, she was quick enough to block the dangerous blow, and delivered a fully charged strike to his chest with her hand. Mizuki stumbled away from Hinata, beginning to cough, freaking out slightly when he realized he was coughing blood.

"This match is over." The proctor called. Mizuki suddenly turned, shooting a look at him for the sudden ending. The proctor glared back. "Now isn't the time to get mad over hurt pride. Get to a medic, Mizuki." Mizuki let out an annoyed sigh as he slowly complied. Hinata had made her way back to her friends, passing Kiba who was already making his way to the center of the ring.

"Mizuki-sensei was trying really hard to hit me." Was the first thing she commented as she stood in front of her two friends.

Suigetsu agreed with her. "I don't know why, but it seemed like he was trying to hurt you."

Hinata's eyes went wide. "No no no no! I didn't mean that! I just…I mean…I don't think he was trying to hit me! I think he was just trying to make sure he wouldn't lose to me! I mean, he might have thought it embarrassing if he lost to an academy student, especially one he helped teach!"

Naruto agreed with her. "I know, but he has been saying crazy stuff like that all throughout your match. I mean, if you can't trust your sensei, who can you trust! Except if they are perverts who try to peep on girls instead of teach you like they said they would!" It was obvious to both Hinata and Suigetsu that he was referring to his sensei Jiraiya, and was simply re-iterating his long held grievances.

Suigetsu wasn't convinced, but he decided to let it drop. He would mention it to Hiashi-sama when he next saw him, however. He wouldn't want to fail his leader so. "So, Naruto, did Iruka-sensei give you any clue whatsoever on who you would be facing?"

Naruto frowned and shook his head. "No, he said I had to wait like everyone else! I don't get why, I mean, it isn't like I will know how they fight and stuff! I just want to know their name!"

Hinata shrugged. "Well Naruto, what if it was someone you have seen fight already?"

Naruto brushed it off. "I only know have seen like three chunin's fight, ever. I know how Iruka fight, your stupid cousin, and the Nara girl we saw advance during the chunin exams. And Iruka isn't fighting! And I doubt I would be lucky enough to get either of the other two, so what is the big deal?"

Suigetsu shook his head. "Maybe you do have one of them, now shut up. I want to watch Kiba fight, he is a lot more intense than I have ever seen him before." He shushed his companions as he watched the fight in the middle of the ring. Kiba fighting the well known but little understood Kotetsu Hagane.

"Wow, Inuzuka, you fight really well. A lot better than your sister can, but she is a medic-nin and all. You know, she is really hot, do you think I can get your permission to date her?"

"Is he stupid?" Suigetsu plainly asked.

Naruto, who actually had been mentored by Jiraiya on matters like dating (which he mostly had suppressed before because of their perverted undertones), along with knowing Kiba, fully understood as well. "I think he wants to die!"

Hinata could only look on in pity at him. "I hope he will be okay tomorrow, father needs all the help he can get in the office."

The trio saw something snap in the real Kiba's eyes, his dog already in Jujin Bunshin mode but now identifiable with the inferior bloodlust emanating from him. With this in mind, Kiba activated the drill like attack Getsuga towards Kotetsu, and Kotetsu began to dodge with a nonchalance the trio all found extremely stupid. Akamaru helped with the assault, but without the same intensity as his owner's. After each miss, Kiba's anger grew more and more noticeable. Until he yelled out. "Akamaru, Plan Yo-Yo!" Akamaru stood to the front and right of Kotetsu, while Kiba was directly behind. Kiba charged once again with Getsuga, with Akamaru beginning to attack as well, but not towards Kotetsu. Kiba flew at the spot Kotetsu was and Kotetsu avoided the attack again, giving himself an ill-timed moment of rest. Kiba continued his attack until it intercepted paths with Akamaru's attack, causing Kiba to richochet off of his partner.

Akamaru was turned back to himself, and the coat he had received from his father flew off his body into the air, now a little more ragged, but Kiba was launched towards Kotetsu. He turned around, feeling the air movement, and did not escape in time to avoid being dragged to the ground, Kiba's claw like hands around his throat, a face of hatred hovering over him as the cold floor was on his back. His life was slowly being squeezed away from him, and the claw like nails were drawing blood. He began to reach out wildly to try and pry off Kiba to no avail and was only saved by a proctor, quick to the scene, prying Kiba off of him.

"Mr. Inuzuka, the match is over, calm down this instant!" The proctor screamed, gaining a sharp look from Kiba. He quickly turned around, raised his arms to let his jacket seamlessly return to its original position on his body after flying through the air, and walked over to ensure Akamaru was alright from his plan. The proctor began to check the wounds around his neck and sighed.

"Damn it, we need a medic in ring 3!" He called aloud. In a lower voice, faintly picked up by some of the trio, he heard, "This is just ridiculous. Two chunin hurt in a row? What the hell is Umino teaching them nowadays?"

"Wow… that was brutal." Hinata commented as they watched Kiba picked up Akamaru, petting him and whispering in his ear.

Naruto only nodded. "He looked really cool though, did you see how his jacket just fell onto him so easily?"

"Nine points for style and the ruthless instinct." Suigetsu scored Kiba's performance. They watched Kiba slowly walk with his partner off the field opposite of them, avoiding any discussion between them. They watched as the medic rushed over to Kotetsu and begin treatment. Naruto began to suddenly bouncing up and down, bending over to grab his feet. It was obvious to his friends that he was stretching for his match. They watched the medic stop the bleeding and help Kotetsu off the field to allow the next match to begin.

"Naruto Uzumaki, center of the field please." The proctor asked.

Naruto nodded to him, and turned to his friends. "Wish me luck."

Suigetsu waved off the statement. "Yah, like you need it."

Hinata simply nodded. "Do your best, Naruto-kun." She gave a small smile to him that made Naruto's grin grow slightly.

"Thanks" he called out to her before he walked into the center of the field. He listened to the proctor go over the rules to him, which were sparse but satisfactory. After Naruto acknowledged he understood them, the proctor turned to the door and called out. "Chunin B5 please enter the arena."

The door opened, and Naruto couldn't help but have his grin widen even more. Methodically, he watched Neji Hyuga walk into the field. He wore a headband around his forehead, two straps dangling on either side to prevent his long hair from getting into his face, along with a long sleeved gray shirt with a closed chunin vest. He wore the standard black pants with a holster on his right leg, and did not look amused in the slightest. He was soon standing across from Naruto, a sneer now evident.

"I do not understand why I was chosen to face you today, Uzumaki. I have better things to day."

"Better than lose, Neji-teme!" Naruto sharply replied.

Neji let out a chuckle. "That is funny that you think that. Do not overestimate your abilities just because of the occasional guidance that perverted man has given you." Neji has met Jiraiya on a few occasions through his uncle Hiashi and was not impressed by him.

"How about you don't overestimate abilities, Too-soonin!" Naruto replied with the comeback he had made when Neji had attempted to rub in the face of Hinata that he was a chunin while she was still in the Academy eight months beforehand.

"Call me what you call, but after this spar you will be a nevernin, Uzumaki-inu!" He slid into the stance, ready for the match to begin.

Naruto took a step back, his fighting stance prepared. "I'll show you who's the dog, Neji, after I'm done with you!"

Hinata looked on from the background, still surprised that her cousin was going to have such a huge impact on if Naruto would pass or not. She knew that had a bad history, most of it surrounding her and her role as Hyuga heir and Hokage's daughter.

The proctor looked over the two before announcing "Begin!" With that, Neji charged Naruto, and the fight began.


End file.
